


i ANTHOLOGY OF 
UGOSLiW PO£JRY 



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Book • S 7 

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CKJEHRIGHT DGPOSer. 



AN ANTHOLOGY OF 

JUGOSLAV POETRY 



SERBIAN LYRICS 
EDITED BY 

Dr. B. STEVENSON STANOYEVICH 







BOSTON 

RICHARD G. BADGER 

THE GORHAM PRESS. 



Copyright, 1920, by Richard G. Badger 



All Rights Reserved 



-fS.1*^ 

; 



Made in the United States of America 



The Gorham Press, Boston, U. S. A. 



M 27 1920 
r,!.A570197 



TRANSLITERATION OF UNUSUAL 
JUGOSLAV SCRIPT: 



a = a 


in 


tather, garden 


e = e 


in 


men, envoy 


i = i 


in 


tin, ill 


0=0 


in 


son, note 


u = u 


in 


rule, rumor 


j=y 


in 


yoke, yes 


c=ts 


in 


cats, lots 


lj=ly 


in 


William, million 


dj=dy 


in 


endure, verdure 


gj = gy 


in 


George 


n j = ny 


in 


Kenyon, opinion 


c = tch 


in 


watch, catch 


c=ch 


in 


culture, literature 


s = sh 


in 


ship, shade 


z = zh 


in 


azure, seizure 


Iz = dzh 


in 


Badger, or j in James 



The rest of the letters correspond to the English sounds. 



PREFACE 

"Give me the making of a nation's songs, and 
let who will make their laws," was the maxim of 
a Scottish patriot. We would prefer to modify 
this rule, and say, "Give us the poems which the 
people make for themselves, and then we shall 
obtain a clear insight into the national character 
and learn what customs and laws they are likely 
to accept or reject." Eolk-songs are the intimate 
expressions of the ideas of the people. What the 
comic drama is to the cultured, and the music- 
hall to the ill-educated portions of urban popula- 
tion, the popular song has been, and in some coun- 
tries still is, to the rural peasantry, a true expo- 
nent of their sentiments, though too frequently in- 
accurate in statements of facts. Critics, as is well 
known, have censured Lord Macaulay for his indis- 
criminate adoption of the vulgar and often malig- 
nant rhapsodies sung in the streets of London. 
But the Russian bylina, collected by Danilov, 
Rybnikov, Sreznevsky and others, may be taken as 
furnishing unimpeachable evidence of the state of 
Russia during the invasions of the Mongols and 
Turks. The Jacobite poems give us the real feel- 
ings of the people of Scotland for nearly an entire 
century. The popular and rustic strains which 
are handed down from the reign of Henry III have 
rehabilitated the memory of Simon de Montfort. 



Preface 

Moore's Irish melodies, originally composed for the 
delectation of English aristocrats, have been so gen- 
erally admired in his native land that they exhibit 
pretty clear indications of what the Irish patriots 
would like to do if they had the power. And the 
battle-hymn by Rouget de Lisle is not only popular 
in France, but has recently been sung by the Rus- 
sian bolsheviki when marching to occupy Tsarskoe 
Selo and other imperial lands. 

The songs to which the English form has been 
given in the following volume have been taken 
mostly from Vuk Karadzic's invaluable collec- 
tion: Srpske Narodne Pjesme (Serbian National 
Songs). Karadzic, of whom the literary world 
has heard so much, is the father of modern Serbian 
literature. He spent many years among the peas- 
ants in collecting the national treasures: ballads, 
tales, proverbs, anecdotes and other folklore. Be- 
fore his time the songs had never been reduced to 
written form, and were kept ouf. of reach of the 
public ear. He was only able to hear them partly 
because of a ruse and partly in secret, when he 
listened with inexhaustible patience to the girls 
spinning, or the guslars (bards) trolling in taverns 
and at fairs, or the reapers chanting at their work. 
In the preface of his first book of Srpske Narodne 
Pjesme Karadzic tells us that in Serbia two sorts 
of popular poetry exist — the historical ballads, and 
popular songs of a character which caused them to 
be described as zenske pjesme (women's songs) 
chanted by country folk, both men and women and 
mostly in duet. It is the latter, zenske pjesme, 
which having been translated into English are 
8 



Preface 

gathered together in the following anthology, Ser- 
bian Lyrics. 

Sir John Bowring, who unveiled to his country- 
men the rich treasures of Slavic popular songs in 
general, is also distinguished by being the pioneer 
to point out the Serbian in particular. But the 
claims, which we, at the present day, feel our- 
selves entitled to make on a translator, are very 
different from those current in Bowring's time. 
Correctness and fidelity are now considered neces- 
sary requisites in a good translation, just as an- 
tiquarian exactness is expected in the publication of 
an old manuscript. 

Jugoslav lyric poetry is divided into several 
groups, as, for instance, one grouping contains 
poems concerning marriage. These songs tell of 
the beauty of the bride, of her joy and sorrow 
before departure from the home of her parents, as 
well as her feelings upon other occasions during 
wedlock. There are poems belonging to the group 
of bacchanalian songs, pronounced during the toast, 
and resounding with many refrains. Then there 
are lamentations (tuzbalice) which are mostly pro- 
vincial, from Montenegro and Dalmatia. They 
are also accompanied by refrains, expressing sorrow 
after the death of some loved one, and extolling the 
virtues of the deceased, or the great misfortune 
felt by those left behind. All this emotion is de- 
scribed very fitly and in a touching manner. Fur- 
ther, there are poems commemorating the holy sea- 
sons and "red-letter days," as svecarske pjesme 
sung on the Slava celebration of some svetac 
(saint). To the same grouping belong Christmas 

9 



Preface 

poems hailing the glory of the Christ, and depict- 
ing the customs of that season (koledo). Saints, 
such as Sts. John, George, Peter, and others, have 
their own eulogies. There are besides poems ex- 
alting the Holy Ghost (kraljicke pjesme). Dodole, 
which originated from old customs of heathenism, 
are sung during the summer droughts. Others are 
reapers' songs, mostly sung at prelo time (social 
gatherings). There are poems that are connected 
neither with marriage, nor death, nor harvests, but 
which treat of mythological or religious subjects; 
they are called pobozne, describing the spiritual 
virtues of the Virgin, or the Christ, or the apostles. 
Here are also to be found humoristic and satirical 
compositions, directed against women, or especially 
against monks, widows, and old bachelors. They 
are as a rule sprightly songs and piquant, pleasant 
and witty. 

Critics who have written of the Serbian national 
songs declare that they are characterized by ex- 
treme delicacy both of feeling and workmanship, 
and that they are noble in their childlike purity, 
simple treatment of, and sympathy with, every 
phase of natural human experience. But these Ser- 
bian songs have quite a peculiar character of their 
own. They are directly, passionately, fiercely hu- 
man, and rich with poetic sympathy. Love, glory, 
sorrow, death — are the themes constantly handled 
in a thousand weird and poetic phrases. There is 
a strong Indian flavor of the joy of rest in Mother 
Earth; and again, a keen thirst for the fight which 
smacks of the men who lived with Moslems around 
them. Although these chants occasionally recall 
IO 



Preface 

something of the martial lilt of old Spanish bal- 
lads, they have an individual original turn which 
cannot be compared with any extant popular 
poetry. They have the uncanny mystery of the 
Celtic tales of love in death, which is very rare. 

The love songs of the Jugoslav lands have a 
dreamy, calm and exalted sweetness that reminds 
us of the Alps and the Cevennes. Among these 
the Bosnian sevdalinke (love songs of Bosnia) are 
especially worthy of remark, for they are full of 
emotion, yearning and tender passion. The greater 
warmth of the songs of Herzegovina and Monte- 
negro is owing more to the sonorous language than 
to any superiority in melody. Here are mostly to 
be found tuzbalice. As to Dalmatia, Croatia 
and Slovenia, their melodies are chiefly marked by 
simplicity and a feeling for the domestic side of 
life. Backa and Banat, blessed with much open 
air and sunshine, possess no love-songs in -the strict 
sense of the term; but they have serenade and 
poskocice, although for these there is little or no 
original melody. To the light-minded and bright- 
witted singers of these provinces imagination is 
easier than memory. 

A country very rich in melody is Serbia. Here 
one may find a truer and more intense musical 
feeling, a stronger love of the soil, and more sin- 
cere devotion to the beauty of nature, especially of 
spring and summer, than in any other part of Jugo- 
slavia. The love songs of Serbia seem to have a 
special inspiration of their own. We may hear the 
shepherds singing in green pastures and among the 
fir-woods, or in the silence of the mountains. From 
ii 



Preface 

the vineyards, from the fair and dances, and from 
the daily round of work the strains arise. Every- 
where that youth is seen a poem is heard, and every 
occupation is accompanied by a song. 

We cannot, however, leave this part of our sub- 
ject without mentioning some of the burlesque 
poems, which the Jugoslavs possess in great num- 
ber, partly narrative and partly lyric. The Ameri- 
cans are accustomed to think of the Jugoslavs and 
their kinsmen as grave and sombre, or, when their 
passions are excited, prone to deeds of tragic vio- 
lence. Those who are better acquainted with them 
know full well that they are as loquacious and 
sarcastically sportive in their social gatherings as 
any nation, and many of their verses are redolent 
of these qualities. They display all the gradations 
of the comic, from the diverting simplicity of the 
innocent confession of an enamoured girl, together 
with the ludicrous situation and disappointed van- 
ity of her cheated lover, up to a strain of bitter 
satire and merciless irony. Poems marked by that 
simplicity which borders between the touching and 
the humorous are also represented in this volume. 
Such is the song, "Trouble with the Husband": 

I married last year, 
This year I repent. 
Bad husband have I, 
With temper like nettle: 
My lot I resent. 

The frost kills the nettle, 
But this husband of mine, 
He thinks the frost fine: 
By the stove all day long 

12 



Preface 



He does nothing but sit, 
And says that the frost 
He minds not one bit! 

In Celovec 'tis market-day, 
'Tis market-day to-morrow; 
I will take my husband there, 
And will either there him change, 
Or else will sell him at the fair. 

Not too cheap I'll let him go, 
Because he was so hard to get; 
Rather than too cheaply sell him, 
Back home again I'll take the man, 
And love him — howsomuch I can ! 



The western world has already heard of the 
rich mine of Jugoslav folk-literature. Never- 
theless, comparatively speaking, only a very small 
number have been translated into English. The 
extreme simplicity of these verses, the peculiar char- 
acter of the Serbian language, with its melodiously 
protracted words, its pompously sonorous sounds, 
and its harmonious diffuseness, all render it exceed- 
ingly difficult to translate Serbian lyrics without 
encountering the danger of making constant addi- 
tions; especially when rendering it into a language 
with so many monosyllabic words, and so philo- 
sophically condensed, as the English. 

Milivoy Stanoyevich. 
New York, 1920. 



13 



\ 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 

POEMS TRANSLATED BY 

SIR JOHN BOWRING 

CHAPTER PAGE 

I. The Curse 21 

II. Farewell 23 

III. The Violet 24 

IV. Smilia 24 

V. Harvest Song 25 

VI. Maiden's Prayer 25 

VII. Kisses 26 

VIII. Harvest Song 27 

IX. Curse 27 

X. Salutation of the Morning Star . 28 

XL The Knitter 29 

XII. Royal Converse 30 

XIII. Rosa ] . . . . 31 

XIV. The Maiden and the Sun .... 31 
XV. The Maiden's Wish 32 

XVI. The Falcon 33 

XVII. Deer and Vila 34 

XVIII. Virgin and Widow 35 

XIX. Nightingales 36 

XX. The Ring 37 

XXI. Fratricide 38 

XXII. Love 40 

XXIII. Maple Tree 40 

XXIV. Semendrian Beauty 41 

XXV. Self-Admiration 42 

. 15 



Table of Contents 



CHAPTER PAGE 

XXVI. Assignation 42 

XXVII. Foolish Vow 43 

XXVIII. Vilas 43 

XXIX. Lepota 44 

XXX. Imprecations 45 

XXXI. Secrets Divulged 46 

XXXII. Wishes 47 

XXXIII. Lover Asleep 47 

XXXIV. Early Sorrows 48 

XXXV. The Young Shepherds 49 

XXXVI. Thoughts of a Mother 51 

XXXVII. Counsel 52 

XXXVIII. Desolation 52 

XXXIX. Apprehension 53 

XL. Milica 54 

XLI. The Choice 55 

XLII. For Whom? 55 

XLIII. Liberty 56 

XLIV. The Dance 57 

XLV. Elegy 58 

XLVI. Inquiry 59 

XLVII. Doubt 60 

XL VIII. The Sultaness 61 

XLIX. Betrothing 61 

L. Cautions 62 

LI. Maiden's Cares 63 

LII. Mohammedan Song 65 

LIII. Mine Everywhere 65 

LIV. Maid Awaking 67 

LV. Mother's Love 67 

LVI. The Greybeard 68 

LVII. Mohammedan Tale 69 

LVIII. Love's Difficulties 71 

16 



Table of Contents 



CHAPTER PAGE 

LIX. Witches 72 

LX. Pledges 72 

LXI. Complaint 73 

LXII. Song 74 

LXIII. Mohammedan Song 74 

LXIV. Brotherless Sisters 75 

LXV. Misfortunes 76 

LXVI. Timidity 77 

LXVII. Youth Enamoured ...... 78 

LXVIII. Black Eyes and Blue 79 

LXIX. The Widow 80 

LXX. Alarms . 80 

LXXI. Fond Wife 81 

LXXII. Unhappy Bride ....... 81 

LXXIII. Last Petition 82 

LXXIV. Love for a Brother 83 

LXXV. Rebuke 84 

LXXVI. Man's Faith 85 

LXXVII. Maiden's Affection 85 

LXXVIII. Marriage Songs 86 

LXXIX. Heroes Served 89 

LXXX. Youth and Age 89 

LXXXI. Choice 90 

LXXXII. Anxiety 91 

LXXXIII. Inquiry 91 

LXXXIV. Frozen Heart 92 

LXXXV. Union in Death 92 

POEMS TRANSLATED BY 

EARL OF LYTTON (OWEN MEREDITH) 

LXXXVI. Love and Sleep 93 

LXXXVII. Love Confers Nobility 95 

LXXXVIII. A Soul's Sweetness 95 

17 



Table of Contents 



CHAPTER PAGE 

LXXXIX. Reminiscences 96 

XC. Sleep and Death 97 

XCL Imperfection 98 

XCIL Emancipation 99 

XCIII. Plucking a Flower 100 

XCIV. A Wish 102 

XCV. A Serbian Beauty . . ■ . . . . 102 

XCVI. Sleeplessness 103 

XCVII. A Message 104 

XCVIII. Transplanting a Flower .... 104 

XCIX. Isolation 105 

C. Fatima and Mehmed 106 

POEMS TRANSLATED BY 

J. W. WILES, M.A. 

CI. Morava Horses 107 

CII. The Girl and the Grass .... 108 

CIII. The Sun and the Girl 108 

CIV. Curse and Blessing 109 

CV. The Nicest Flower in the World . . no 

CVI. The Pretty Tomb in 

CVII. Toda and Her Fate 112 

CVIII. The Vila 113 

CIX. Three Roses 113 

CX. Her Dream 114 

CXI. Trouble with the Husband . . . 115 

CXII. The Peacock and the Nightingale . 116 

CXIII. The First Toast 116 

CXIV. The Hodza 117 

CXV. Woes 118 

CXVI. Hard to Believe 119 

CXVII. The Conditions 119 

CXVIII. Prayer Before Going to Bed . . . 120 
18 



Table of Contents 



CHAPTER 

CXIX. Vision Before Sleep 

CXX. Prayer in the Field 

CXXI. A Child in Heaven ...... 

CXXII. Christmas 

CXXIII. Christ Thinks of His Mother . . 
CXXIV. The Blessed Mary and John the 

Baptist 

CXXV. The Holy Mother 

CXXVI. Dream of the Holy Virgin . . 

CXXV II. Mother at the Tomb of Her Son 

CXXVIII. Mother Over Her Dead Son . . . 

CXXIX. Mother's Lament for Her Son . . 

CXXX. Greatest Grief for a Brother . . 

CXXXI. The Death Chamber of Her Father 

in-law 

CXXXII. Koledo 

CXXXIII. A Horse's Complaint 

CXXXIV. A Dance at Vidin 

CXXXV. The Price 

CXXXVI. Preferences 

CXXXVII. A Bride's Devotion 

CXXXVIII. Fidelity 

CXXXIX. A Sister's Lament 



PAGE 
120 
121 
121 
122 

123 

124 

125 

126 

127 
128 

129 

130 

131 
132 

133 
134 
135 
135 

136 

136 

137 



POEMS TRANSLATED BY 

BEATRICE STEVENSON STANOYEVICH, 



Ph.D. 



CXL. The Prayer of Karageorge's Lady 
CXLI. Thou Art Ever, Ever Mine 
CXLIL Sea Merchant .... 
CXLIII. Angela as Watchman 
CXLIV. A Lad and His Betrothed 
CXLV. Direful Sickness . . . 
CXLVI. All as it Should Be . . 
CXL VII. Beauty Preens Herself . 

19 



138 

139 
139 
140 
140 
141 
141 
141 



Table of Contents 



CHAPTER PAGE 

CXLVIII. Harvest Song 142 

CXLIX. Long Nights 142 

CL. Eyebrow Lure 143 

CLI. Girlhood . 143 

CLII. Youth with Youth 144 

CLIII. Come my Lover, to Me 144 

CLIV. Sighs 145 

CLV. A Bouquet of Little Roses . . . 145 

CLVI. Dream Interpretation 146 

CLVIL With Sweetheart Nights are Shortest 146 

CLVIII. Dawn Awakened Lazar 148 

CLIX. A Devilish Young Matron .... 148 

CLX. Girl is Eternal Possession . . . 149 

CLXI. Jovo and Maria 150 

CLXII. Rose Tree 150 

CLXIII. Darling's Wrath . 151 

CLXIV. Lad Pierced with Arrow . . . . 151 

CLXV. Nought but Kisses 152 

CLXVI. United 152 

CLXVII. Girl Pleads with Jeweller . . . 152 

CLXVIII. Wife Dearer than Sister .... 153 

CLXIX. Greatest Sorrow 154 

CLXX. Youth and Girl 154 



20 



THE CURSE 1 

I HEARD a sprightly swallow say 
To a gray cuckoo t'other day, — 
"Thou art a happy bird indeed; 
Thou dost not in the chimney breed, 
Thou dost not hear the eternal jarring, 
Of sisters and step-sisters warring; 
Their woes and grievances rehearsing, 
Cursing themselves, and others cursing. 
A young step-sister once I saw, 
Foul language at the elder throw; 
"Perdition's daughter! hence depart; 
Thou hast no -fruit beneath thy heart." 
And thus the elder one replied: 
"Curse thy perverseness and thy pride! 
Mihailo is a son of thine; 
Now thou shalt bring forth daughters nine, 
And madness shall their portion be. 
Thy son shall cross the parting sea; 
He never shall return to thee, 
But, bathed in blood and wounded, pine !" 
And thus she cursed ; — the curse was true ; 2 
Her sister's nine fair daughters grew; 
And madness seized them, — seized them all: 
Mihailo, — far away, and wounded, 
By solitude and woe surrounded, 
I heard him on his mother call: 
21 



An Anthology of Jugoslav Poetry 

"O mother! mother! send me now 
A bandage of that snowy linen 
Which you so thoughtlessly were spinning, 
When curses wander'd to and fro. 
In your rage you wove it, — now remove it; 
Tear it for bandages, as you tore 
Love and affection all asunder. 
Where it was bleach'd thy son lies under; 
With it cover his hot wounds o'er. 
Rend it, mother; and send it, mother! 
May it thy suffering son restore!" 

S. J. B. 



22 



An Anthology of Jugoslav Poetry 



II 

FAREWELL 3 

AGAINST white Buda's walls, a vine 
Doth its white branches fondly twine; 
O, no! it was no vine-tree there; 
It was a fond, a faithful pair, 
Bound each to each in earliest vow — 
And, O! they must be severed now! 
And these their farewell words: — "We part- 
Break from my bosom — break — my heart! 
Go to a garden — go, and see, 
Some rose-branch blushing on the tree ; 
And from that branch of rose-flower tear, 
Then place it on thy bosom bare; 
And as its leaflets fade and pine, 
So fades my sinking heart in thine." 
And thus the other spoke: "My love! 
A few short paces backward move, 
And to the verdant forest go; 
There's a fresh water-fount below; 
And in the fount a marble stone, 
Which a gold cup reposes on; 
And in the cup a ball of snow- 
Love! take that ball of snow to rest 
Upon thine heart within thy breast. 
And as it melts unnoticed there, 
So melts my heart in thine, my dear!" 

S. J. B. 



23 



An Anthology of Jugoslav Poetry 



III 

THE VIOLET 4 

HOW captivating is to me, 
Sweet flower! thine own young modesty! 
Though did I pluck thee from thy stem, 
There's none would wear thy purple gem. 
I thought, perchance, that Ali Bey — 
But he is proud and lofty — nay! 
He would not prize thee — would not wear 
A flower so feeble though so fair : 
His turban for its decorations 
Had full blown roses and carnations. 

S. J. B. 

IV 

SMILIA 5 

SWEET Smilia-flowers did Smilia pull, 
Her sleevelets and her bosom full; 
By the cool stream she gather'd them, 
And twined her many a diadem — 
A diadem of flowery-wreaths; — 
One round her brows its fragrance breathes 
One to her bosom-friend she throws; 
The other where the streamlet flows 
She flings, and says in gentlest tone — 
"Swim on, thou odorous wreath! swim on, 
Swim to my Juris' home, and there 
O whisper in his mother's ear: 

24 



An Anthology of Jugoslav Poetry 

'Say, wilt thou not thy Juris wed ? — 
Then give him not a widow's bed ; 
But some sweet maiden, young and fair.' " 

3. J. B. 

V 
HARVEST SONG 

TAKE hold of your reeds, youths and maidens ! and 

see 
Who the kissers and kiss'd of the reapers shall be. 
Take hold of your reeds, till the secret be told, 
If the old shall kiss young, and the young shall kiss 

old 
Take hold of your reeds, youths and maidens! and 

see 
What fortune and chance to the drawers decree: 
And if any refuse, may God smite them — may they 
Be cursed by Paraskeva, the saint of to-day! 
Now loosen your hands — now loosen, and see 
Who the kissers and kiss'd of the reapers shall be. 6 

S. J. B. 

VI 

MAIDEN'S PRAYER 

BEAUTY'S maiden thus invoked the Heavens: 
"Send me down a whirlwind ! let it scatter 
Yonder stony tower — its halls lay open! 
Let me look on Gercic Manoilo. 

25 



An Anthology of Jugoslav Poetry 

If the otter on his knee is playing — 
If the falcon sits upon his shoulder — 
If the rose is blooming on his kalpak." 7 
What she pray'd for speedily was granted: 
And a storm-wind came across the ocean; 
And the stony tower fell down before it: 
And she look'd on Gercic Manoilo: 
Saw the otter on his knees disporting: 
Saw the falcon sitting on his shoulder: 
Saw the rose upon his kalpak blooming. 

S. J. B, 



VII 

KISSES 

WHAT'S the time of night, my dear? 
For my maiden said, "I'll come" — 
Said "I'll come," — but is not here: 
And 'tis now the midnight's gloom. 
Lone and silent home I turn'd; 
But upon the bridge I met her — 
Kiss'd her : How my hot lips burned !— 
How forget it — how forget her! 
In one kiss full ten I drew: 
And upon my Tips there grew, 
From that hour, a honey-dew, 
As if sugar were my meat, 
And my drink metheglin sweet. 

S. J. B. 
26 



An Anthology of Jugoslav Poetry 



VIII 
HARVEST SONG 

LORD and master ! let us homewards, let us home- 
wards haste: 

Far, far distant are our dwellings — far across the 
waste. 8 

Some have aged mothers threat'ning — "Ne'er allow 
another:" 

Some male-children 9 in the cradle, crying for their 
mother ; 

Some impatient lovers chiding; — dearer they than 
brother. 



S. J. B. 



IX 

CURSE 

THE maiden cursed her raven eyes, 
She cursed them for their treacheries. 
"Be blinded now, to you if heaven 
All that is visible has given! 
If ye see all, ye traitors, say 
Why saw ye not my love to-day : — 
He pass'd my door, — but, truants, ye 
Gave not the gentlest hint to me. 
He had a nosegay in his hand, — 
He wore a gold embroider' d band. 10 

27 



An Anthology of Jugoslav Poetry 

" 'Twas made by other hands than mine ! 
Upon it wreathing branches twine: 
May- every branch embroidered there, 
A miserable heart-wound bear; — 
Upon each branch, may every leaf. 
Bring and betoken toil and grief." 

X 

SALUTATION OF THE MORNING STAR 

LO ! the maiden greets the day-star ! "Sister ! 
Sister star of morning! well I greet thee; 
Thou dost watch the world from thine uprising 
To thy sinking hour. In Hercegovina, 
Tell me didst thou see the princely Stephan ? 
Tell me, was his snowy palace open, 
Were his steeds caparisoned, and ready; 
And was he equipp'd his bride to visit?" 

Gently then the morning star responded : 
"Lovely sister! beautiful young maiden, 
True, I watch the world from my uprising 
To my setting; — and in Hercegovina 
Saw the palace of the princely Stephan ; 
And that snowy palace was wide open, 
And his horse was saddled, and was ready, 
And he was equipp'd his bride to visit: 
But not thee — not thee — another maiden ; 
False tongues three have whisper'd evil of thee ; 
One has said — thine origin is lowly; 
One, that thou art treacherous as a serpent ; 
And the third, that thou art dull and dreamy." 
28 



An Anthology of Jugoslav Poetry 

Then the maiden pour'd her imprecations: 
"He who said my origin was lowly, 
Never let a child of love be born him; 
He who called me treacherous as a serpent, 
Round his heart, O ! let a serpent wreathe it ; 
Through hot summers in his hair be tangled, 
Through cold winters in his bosom nestle; 
He who dar'd to call me dull and dreamy, 
Nine long years may he be worn by sickness, 
And no sleep renew his strength to bear it." 

S. J. B. 



XI 

THE KNITTER 

THE maiden sat upon the hill, 

Upon the hill and far away, 

Her fingers wove a silken cord, 

And thus I heard the maiden say: 

"O with what joy, what ready will, 

If some fond youth, some youth adored, 

Might wear thee, should I weave thee now! 

The finest gold I'd interblend, 

The richest pearls as white as snow. 

But if I knew, my silken friend, 

That an old man " should wear thee, I 

The coarsest worsted would inweave, 

Thy finest silk for dog-grass leave, 

And all thy knots with nettles tie." 

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An Anthology of Jugoslav Poetry 



XII 

ROYAL CONVERSE 

THE king from the queen an answer craves ; 
"How shall we now employ our slaves?" 
The maidens in fine embroidery, 
The widows shall spin flax-yarn for me, 
And the men shall dig in the fields for thee. 

The king from the queen an answer craves, 
"How shall we, lady, feed our slaves?" 
The maidens shall have the honey-comb sweet, 
The widows shall feed on the finest wheat, 
And the men of maize-meal bread shall eat. 

The king from the queen an answer craves ; 
"Where for the night shall rest our slaves?" 
The maidens shall sleep in the chambers high, 
The widows on mattress'd beds shall lie, 
And the men on the nettles under the sky. 

S. J. B. 



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XIII 

ROSA 

UNDER roses slept the maiden Rosa, 
And a rose fell down and waken'd Rosa; 
To the flower-rose, said the maiden Rosa — 
"Rose of mine! O fall, not on the 'maiden, 
I am in no tune of soul to love thee, 
For a heavy grief o'erwhelms my spirit; 
Youth would have me — but old age hath won me. 
An old bridegroom is a worthless maple ; 
When the wind is up it faints and trembles; 
When the rain descends, decay decays it: 
But a young bride, is a roselet budding; 
When the wind is up, its fair leaves open, 
When the rain descends, it shines in beauty, — 
When the sun comes forth, it smiles and glories." 

S. J. B. 

XIV 

THE MAIDEN AND THE SUN 

A MAIDEN proudly thus the sun accosted : 
"Sun! I am fairer far than thou, — far fairer; 
Fairer than is thy sister 12 or thy brethren, — 
Fairer than yon bright moon at midnight shining, 
Fairer than yon gay star in heav'n's arch twinkling, 
That star, all other stars preceding proudly, 
As walks before his sheep the careful shepherd." 

3i 



An Anthology of Jugoslav Poetry 

The sun complafn'd to God of such an insult: 
"What shall be done with this presumptuous 

maiden?" 
And to the sun God gave a speedy answer: 
"Thou glorious Sun! thou my beloved daughter! 13 
Be joyous yet! say, why art thou dejected? 
Wilt thou reward the maiden for her folly — 
Shine on, and burn the maiden's snowy forehead. 
But I a gloomier dowry yet will give her; 
Evil to her shall be her husband's brother; 
Evil to her shall be her husband's father. 
Then shall she think upon the affront she gave thee." 

S. J, B. 



XV 

THE MAIDEN'S WISH 

IF I had, ah Laso! 
All the emp'ror's treasures, 
Well I know, ah Laso! 
What with these I'd purchase; 
I would buy, ah Laso! 
Garden on the Sava; 
Well I know, ah Laso! 
What my hands would plant there; 
I would plant, ah Laso! 
Hyacinths, carnations. 
If I had, ah Laso ! 
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An Anthology of Jugoslav Poetry 

All the emp'ror's treasures, 
Well I know, ah Laso! 
What with these I'd purchase; 
I would buy, ah Laso! 
I would purchase Laso, 
He should be, ah Laso! 
Gardener in my Garden. 



S. J. B. 



XVI 

THE FALCON 

THE falcon soars both far and high, 
He spreads his pinions in the sky, 
Then from his cloudy heights he lowers, 
And seats him on the city's towers : 
He sees a laughing girl of grace, 
In crystal water bathe her face; 
And looks with open, eager eye 
Upon her neck of ivory: 
White as the snow upon the mountain; 
And there he hears a youth recounting 
His tale of love. — "Now bend thy head 
Upon thy snowy neck," he said; 
"Its whiteness is too bright for me: 
And 'neath it sorrowing heart may be." 

S. J. B. 

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An Anthology of Jugoslav Poetry 



XVII 

DEER AND VILA 

A YOUNG deer tracked his way through the green 

forest, 
One lonely day — another came in sadness; 
And the third dawn'd, and brought him sighs and 

sorrow : 
Then he address'd him to the forest Vila: 
"Young deer!" she said, "thou wild one of the 

forest, 
Now tell me what great sorrow has oppress'd thee ? 
Why wanderest thou thus in the forest lonely: 
Lonely one day, — another day in sadness, — 
And the third day with siehs and anguish groan- 
ing?" 

And thus the young deer to the Vila answer'd: 
"O thou sweet sister! Vila of the forest! 
Me has indeed a heavy grief befallen ; 
For I had once a fawn, mine own beloved, 
And one sad day she sought the running water: 
She enter'd it, but came not back to bless me: 
Then tell me, had she lost her way and wander'd? 
Was she pursued and captured by the huntsman? 
Or has she left me? — has she wholly left me? — 
Loving some other deer — and I forgotten. 
O ! if she has but lost her way, and wanders, 
Teach her to find it — bring her back to love me. 
O ! if she has been captured by the huntsman, 
Then may a fate as sad as mine await him. 

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An Anthology of Jugoslav Poetry 

But if she has forsaken me — if, faithless, 
She loves another deer — and I forgotten — 
Then may the huntsman speedily o'er take her." 

S. J. B. 



XVIII 

VIRGIN AND WIDOW 

OVER Sarajevo flies a falcon, 

Looking round for cooling shade to cool him. 

Then he finds a pine on Sarajevo; 

Under it a well of sparkling water; 

By the water, Hyacinth, the widow, 

And the Rose, the young, unmarried virgin. 

He look'd down — the falcon — and bethought him 

"Shall I kiss graye Hyacinth, the widow; 

Or the Rose, the young, unmarried virgin?" 

Thinking thus — at last the bird determined — 

And he whisper'd to himself sedately, 

"Gold — though long employ'd, is far, far better 

Than the finest silver freshly melted," 

So he kiss'd — kiss'd Hyacinth, the widow. 

Very wroth wax'd then young Rose, the virgin : 

"Sarajevo! let a ban be on thee! 

Cursed be thy strange and evil customs! 

For thy youths they love the bygone widows, 

And thy aged men the untried virgins." 

S. J. B. 

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An Anthology of Jugoslav Poetry 



XIX 

NIGHTINGALES 

ALL the night two nightingales were singing 
At the window T of th' affianced maiden ; 
And th' affianced maiden thus address'd them : 
"Tell me, ye two nightingales, O tell me! 
Are ye brothers? are ye brothers' children?" 

Thus the nightingales made speedy answer: 
"Brothers are we not, nor brothers' children: 
We are friends — friends of the verdant forest. 
Once we had another friend — another — 
But that friend is lost to us for ever. 
We have heard that nuptial bliss awaits him ; 
And we came the }'Outhful bride to look on, 
And to offer her a golden spindle, 
With the flax of Egypt bound around it." 

S. J. B. 



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XX 

THE RING 

THE streamlet ripples through the mead, beneath 

the maple tree ; 
There came a maiden that stream to draw — a lovely 

maid was she; 
From the white walls of old Belgrade that maid 

came smilingly. 

Young Mirko saw T , and offer'd her a golden fruit 

and said : 
"O take this apple, damsel fair! and be mine own 

sweet maid!" 
She took the apple — flung it back — and said, in 

angry tone, 
"Neither thine apple, Sir! nor thee — presumptuous 

boy, be gone!" 

The streamlet ripples through the mead, beneath the 

maple tree; 
There came a maid that stream to draw — a lovely 

maid was she; 
From the white walls of old Belgrade that maid 

came smilingly. 

Young Mirko saw, and profrer'd her a golden 

brooch, and said : 
"O take this brooch, thou damsel fair! and be mine 

own sweet maid!" 

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An Anthology of Jugoslav Poetry 

She took the brooch, and flung it back and said, in 
peevish tone, 

"I'll neither have thee nor thy brooch — presumptu- 
ous boy, be gone!" 

The streamlet ripples through the mead, beneath 
the maple tree; 

There came a maid that stream to draw — the love- 
liest maid was she; 

From the white walls of old Belgrade that maid 
came smilingly. 

Young Mirko saw, and profrer'd her a golden-ring, 

and said: 
"O take this ring, my damsel fair! and be mine own 

sweet maid!" 
She took the ring — she slipp'd it on — and said, in 

sprightliest tone, 
'Til have thee and thy golden ring, and be thy 

faithful one." 

S. J. B. 



XXI 

THE FRATRICIDE 

BETWEEN two mountains sank the sun- 
Between two maids the enamour'd one. 
He gave his kiss to one alone; 
The other maid grew jealous then: 
"Most faithless thou of faithless men!" 

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An Anthology of Jugoslav Poetry 

She said — and he replied — "Fair maid! 
I fain would kiss thy cheeks of red, 
But thou hast got a bickering brother, 
Who loves to quarrel with another, 
And I no quarrel seek, my love!" 

She hied her to the darksome grove — 
Silent — she turned o'er many a rock, 
And look'd 'neath many a broken stock; 
Probed weeds and briars, till she feund 
A poisonous serpent on the ground. 
She smote it with her golden ring, 
Tore from its mouth the venomy fang; 
Its poisonous juice her hands did wring 
Into a wine cup — and she sprang 
On swiftest feet to Raduli — 

Her own — her only brother he — 
Her hands the fatal cup supplied — 
He drank the poison — and he died. 

Then sped she to the youth — "A kiss — 
At least one kiss of love for this — 
For this — for thee — I dress'd the cup 
With poison — and he drank it up — 
The brother that thou lov'st not — he 
I poison'd for a kiss from thee" — 

Away! away! thou murd'rous maid! 
Avaunt! Avaunt! — the lover said: 
"What fame — what courage could confide 
In thee — a heartless fratricide" 

S. J. B. 

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An Anthology of Jugoslav Poetry 

XXII 
LOVE 

THE youth he struck on the tambourine, 
And nought was so bright as its golden sheen ; 
Of the hair of maidens twined together 
Its strings, which he struck with a falcon's feather. 
The maid look'd down from the balcony, 
And thus to her inner self said she : — 

"O heaven! what a noble youth is he! 
Would'st thou but give this youth to me, 
I would make of the garden-pinks his bed, 
I would lay fair roses under his head; 
And waked by perfume, with what delight 
Would he kiss the maiden's forehead white!" 

S. J. B. 



XXIII 

MAPLE TREE 

O THOU brotherly maple tree ! 
Wilt thou be a friend to me? 
Be a brother, and a friend! 
To the green grass thy branches bend, 
That I may climb to their highest tip ! 
Look o'er the sea, and see the ship, 
Where my lover sits smiling now; 
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An Anthology of Jugoslav Poetry 

He binds the turban round his brow, 
And over his shoulders the shawl he flings, 
Which is full of mine own embroiderings. 
For three long years my hands inwove 
Those golden flowers to deck my love : 
The richest silk of the brightest dyes 
I work'd for him, and now my eyes 
Would fain my absent lover see: 
Assist me, brotherly maple tree! 
And tell me, if he thinks of me! 

S. J. B. 



XXIV 

SEMENDRIAN BEAUTY 

LOVELY maiden of Semendria! 
Hail thee, youth ! and health be with thee ! 
Hast thou visited the markets? 
Saw'st thou there a sheet of paper? 
Like that paper is my forehead. 
Hast thou ever seen the vineyard, 
Seen the rosy wine that flows there ? 
Youth ! my cheeks that wine resemble. 
Didst thou ever walk the meadows, 
Hast thou seen the black sloe-berry? 
That black sloe my eyes will paint thee: 
Hast thou wandered near the ocean? 
Hast thou seen the pijavica? 14 
Like it are the maiden's eye-brows. 

S. J. B. 

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An Anthology of Jugoslav Poetry 



XXV 

SELF-ADMIRATION 

A MAIDEN to the fountain went; 
I saw her overhang the place — 
And — she was young and innocent — 
I heard her say with simple grace, 
"Indeed she has a pretty face; 
And if she had a spring-flower wreath, 
How well 'twould sit upon her brow ; 
And she might hear the shepherd breathe, 
Yes ! thou shalt be my maiden now ! 
The shepherd — 'midst his fleecy drove, 
Goes like a moon the stars above." 

S. J. B. 

XXVI 

ASSIGNATION 

MAIDEN ! let us share each other's kisses! 
Tell me, tell me, where shall be our meeting, 
In thy garden, or in mine, sweet maiden? 
Under thine, or under my green rose-tree; 
Thou shalt be a rose, my gentle angel: 
I to a fond butterfly will change me, 
Everlastingly o'er thee to flutter — 
On thy flowers untired I will suspend me, 
Living blest upon mine own love's kisses. 

S. J. B. 

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An Anthology of Jugoslav Poetry 



XXVII 

FOOLISH VOW 

THE maiden made a foolish vow: 
"111 never wear a flow'ret now: — 
No flow'ret shall be ever mine — 
I'll never drink the proffer'd wine. 
No wine I'll drink — no friend I'll kiss 
No, never more — my vow is this." 
So rashly, rashly spoke the maid, 
But soon — ah, soon — repentance said : 

"A flowery garland o'er me, 
How beautiful 'twould be : 
And wine — it would restore me, 

My heart's own gaiety : 
And love might play before, 

If one sweet kiss were free." 

S. J. B. 

XXVIII 

VILAS 

VISNJA, 15 lovely visnja! 
Lift thy branches higher ; 
For beneath thy branches, 
• Vilas 16 dance delight : 
While Radisa 17 dashes 
From the flow'rs the dewdrops. 

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An Anthology of Jugoslav Poetry 

Vilas two conveying, 
To the third he whispers: 
"O be mine, sweet Vila! 
Thou, with mine own mother, 
In the shade shalt seat thee; 
Silken vestments spinning, 
Weaving golden garments." 

S. J. B. 

XXIX 

LEPOTA 18 

LEPOTA went forth to the harvest — she held 

A sickle of silver in fingers of gold: 

And the sun mounted high o'er the parched harvest 

field ; 
And the maiden in song all her sympathies told, 
"I'll give my white forehead to him who shall bind 
All the sheaves which my sickle leaves scatter'd be- 
hind: 
I'll give my black eyes to the friend who shall bring 
A drought of sweet waters just fresh from the 

spring; 
And to him who shall bear me to rest in the shade, 
I will be — and for aye — an affectionate maid. 

And she thought that her words were all wasted in 

air: 
But a shepherd — just watching his sheepfold, was 

there ; 
And he flew, and with sedges he bound all the 

sheaves ; 

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An Anthology of Jugoslav Poetry 

And he made her an arbor of hazelwood leaves; 

And he ran to the spring, and he brought the sweet 
water ; 

And he look'd on the face of Beauty's young daugh- 
ter. 

And he said, "Lovely maiden, thy promise I claim ;" 

But the cheeks of the maiden were cover'd with 
shame, 

And she said to the shepherd, while blushing — "Not 
so! 

Go back to thy sheepfold — thou wanderer, go ! 

For if thou didst bind the loose sheaves, thou hast 
left 

Thy sheep in the stubble, to wander bereft ; 

And if from the fountain the water thou beared'st, 

Its freshness and coolness thou equally shared'st; 

And if thou hast reared up an arbor of shade, 

For thyself as for me it refreshment has made." 

S. J. B. 



XXX 

IMPRECATIONS 

THROUGH the long night a falcon cried, 
"Awake, awake thee! youth! anon 
Thy maiden will become a bride : 
She puts her marriage garments on. 
Awake! awake thee, youth! and send 
A marriage blessing to thy friend." 

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An Anthology of Jugoslav Poetry 

"What! shall I be a marriage guest? 
And shall I bid the maid be blest? 
Hear then my marriage blessing hear ! 
No son her barren womb shall bear : 
May every bit of bread she breaks 
Bring with it wretchedness and woe, — 
For every drop her thirst that slakes 
Mav tears of bitter anguish flow!" 

S. J. B. 

XXXI 

SECRETS DIVULGED 

TWO lovers kiss each other in the meadows ; 
They think that no one sees the fond betrayal, 
But the green meadows see them, and are faithless; 
To the white flocks incontinent they say all; 
And the white flocks proclaim it to the shepherd, 
The shepherd to a high-road traveller brings it 
He to a sailor on the restless ocean tells it, 
The sailor to his spice-ship thoughtless- sings it ; 
The spice-ship whispers it upon the waters, 
The waters rush to tell the maiden's mother. 

And thus impassioned spoke the lovely maiden — 
"Meadows! of spring-days never see another! 
Flocks! may the cruel ravenous wolves destroy ye. 
Thee, shepherd! may the cruel Moslem slaughter. 
Wanderer! may oft thy slippery footsteps stumble. 
Thee,- sailor! may the ocean billows smother. 
Ship! may a fire unquenchable consume thee; 
And sink into the earth, thou treacherous water!" 

S. J. B. 

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An Anthology of Jugoslav Poetry 



XXXII 

WISHES 

O THAT I were a little stream, 

That I might flow to him — to him! 

How should I dance with joy, when knowing 

To whom my sparkling wave was flowing ! 

Beneath his window would I glide, 

And linger there till morning-tide; 

When first he rouses him to dress 

In comely garb his manliness, — 

Then should he weak, or thirsty be, 

O he might stoop to drink of me! 

Or baring there his bosom, lave 

That bosom in my rippling wave 

O what a bliss, if I could bear 

The cooling power of quiet there! 

S. J. B. 

XXXIII 

LOVER ASLEEP 
i 

O NIGHTINGALE ! thy warblings cease, 
And let my master sleep in peace: 
'Twas I who lull'd him to repose, 
And I will wake from his rest; 
I'll seek the sweetest flower that grows, 
And bear it to his presence blest; 
And gently touch his cheeks, and say, 
"Awake, my master! for 'tis day." 

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An Anthology of Jugoslav Poetry 



XXXIV 

EARLY SORROWS 

O NIGHTINGALE! sweet bird— they say, 

That peace abides with thee; 
But thou hast brought from day to day 

A triple woe to me. 
The first, first woe my spirit knew, 

My first, first woe was this, 
My mother never train'd me to 

A lover's early bliss 
My second woe, my second woe, 

Was that my trusty steed, 
Whene'er I mounted, seem'd to show 

Nor eagerness nor speed. 
My third, third woe — of all the worst, 

Is that the maid I woo, 
The maid I lov'd the best — the first, 

Is angry with me, too. 
Then dig an early grave for me, 

Yon whiten'd fields among; 
In breadth two lances let it be, 

And just four lances long. 
And o'er my head let roses grow, 

There plant the red-rose tree; 
And at my feet a fount shall flow, 

O scoop that fount for me! 
So when a youthful swain appears, 

The roses he shall wreathe; 
And when an old man bent with years, 

He'll drink the stream beneath. 

S. J. B. 
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An Anthology of Jugoslav Poetry 

XXXV 

THE YOUNG SHEPHERDS 

THE sheep, beneath old Buda's wall, 
Their wonted quiet rest enjoy; 
But ah! rude stony fragments fall, 
And many a silk-wool'd sheep destroy; 
Two youthful shepherds perish there, 
The golden George, and Mark the fair. 

For Mark, O many a friend grew sad, 
And father, mother wept for him: 
George — father, friend, nor mother had, 
For him no tender eye grew dim: 
Save one — a maiden far away, 
She wept — and thus I heard her say: 

My golden George — and shall a song, 
A song of grief be sung for thee — 
'Twould go from lip to lip — ere long 
By careless lips profaned to be; 
Unhallow'd thoughts might soon defame 
The purity of woman's name. 

Or shall I take thy picture fair, 
And fix that picture in my sleeve? 
Ah ! time will soon the vestment tear, 
And not a shade, nor fragment leave: 
I'll give not him I love so well 
To what is so corruptible. 

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An Anthology of Jugoslav Poetry 

I'll write thy name within a book; 
That book will pass from hand to hand, 
And many an eager eye will look, 
But ah! how few will understand! 
And who their holiest thoughts can shroud 
From the cold insults of the crowd ? 19 

S. J. B. 



5o 



An Anthology of Jugoslav Poetry 

XXXVI 

THOUGHTS OF A MOTHER 

LO! a fir-tree towers o'er Sarajevo, 
Spreads o'er half the face of Sarajevo — 
Rises up to heaven from Sarajevo: 
Brothers and half-sisters there were seated; 
And the brother cuts a silken garment, 
Which he holds, and questions thus his sister: 

"Brother's wife! thou sweet and lovely dovelet! 
Wherefore art thou looking at the fir-tree ? 
Art thou rather dreaming of the poplar, 
Or art thinking of my absent brother?" 

To her brother thus the lady answer'd: 
"Golden-ring of mine! my husband's brother! 
Not about the fir-tree was I dreaming, 
Nor the noble stem of lofty poplar; 
Neither was I dreaming of my brother. 
I was thinking of my only mother, 
She with sugar and with honey reared me; 
She for me the red wine pour'd at even, 
And at midnight gave the sweet metheglin; 
In the morning milk, with spirit chasten'd 
So to give me cheeks of rose and lily; 
And with gentle messages she waked me, 
That her child might grow both tall and slender." 

S. J. B. 



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An Anthology of Jugoslav Poetry 

XXXVII 

COUNSEL 

"MY Misho ! tell me, tell me, pray, 
Where wert thou wandering yesterday?" 
"I did not ramble — did not roam; 
A wretched headache kept me home." 
"A thousand times I've said, I think 
No widows love — no water drink ! 
But thou, a thoughtless unbeliever, 
Wilt water drink, and get a fever ; 
Wilt give to widows thine affection, 
And find remorse, or find rejection; 
Now take my counsel, — drink of wine, 
And be a virgin maiden thine!" 

S. J. B. 

XXXVIII 

DESOLATION 

GLOOMY night ! how full thou art of darkness ! 
Thou, my heart! art fuller yet of sorrow, 
Sorrow which I bear, but cannot utter! 
I have now no mother who will hear me, 
I have now no sister who will soothe me, — 
Yet I had a friend — but he is absent! 
Ere he comes, the night will be departed ; 
Ere he wakes, the birds will sing their matins, 
Ere his kiss, the twilight hour will brighten : 
Go thy way, my friend ; the day is dawning ! 

S. J. B. 

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XXXIX 

APPREHENSION 

"SWEET maiden mine! thou blushing rose! 

Sweet, blushing roselet mine! 
For me, what thought of honey flows 

From those sweet lips of thine?" 
'I dare not speak with thee, my dear, 

My mother has forbid me.' 

"Sweet maid ! thy mother is not here." 

'She saw me once, and chid me. 
Sir, she is in the garden there, 

Plucking the evergreen: — 
O may her heart like mine decay, 

Like mine decay unseen, — 
Ere love's sweet power has pass'd away, 

As it had never been.' 

S. J. B. 



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XL 

MILICA 

LONG and lovely are Milica's eyebrows, 
And they overhang her cheeks of roses — 
Cheeks of roses, and her snowy forehead, 
Three long years have I beheld the maiden, 
Could not look upon her eyes so lovely — 
On her eyes — nor on her snowy forehead. 
To our country dance I lured the maiden, 
Lured Milica, — lured her to our dances, 
Hoping to look on her eyes so lovely. 

While they danced upon the greensward, verdant 

In the sunshine, sudden darkness gather'd, 

And the clouds broke out in fiery lightning, 

And the maidens all look'd up to heaven, — 

All the maidens — all, except Milica. 

She still look'd on the green grass, untrembling, 

While the maidens trembled as they whisper'd: 

"O Milica! thou our friend and playmate, 

Art thou overwise — or art thou silly? 

Thus to look upon the grass beneath us, 

And not look up to the heaven above us, 

To the clouds, round which the lightnings wind 

them?" 
And Milica gave this quiet answer: 
"I am neither overwise nor silly. 
Not the Vila, nor the cloud-upgatherer ; 
I am yet a- maid — and look before me." 

S. J. B. 

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XLI 

THE CHOICE 

HE slept beneath a poplar tree: 

And three young maidens cross'd the way; 

I listen'd to the lovely three, 

And heard them to each other say: — 

"Now what is dearest, love! to thee?" 

The eldest said — 'Young Ranko's ring 

Would be to me the dearest thing.' 

"No! not for me," the second cried; 

"I'd choose the girdle from his side." 

'Not I,' the youngest said — 'In truth, 

I'll rather have the sleeping youth. 

The ring, O sister! will grow dim, 

The girdle will ere long be broken; 

But this is an eternal token, — 

His love for me and mine for him.' 

S. J. B. 

XLII 

FOR WHOM? 

SWEET fountain, that so freshly flows! 
And thou, my own carnation-rose, 
That shines like a shining gem! 
And shall I tear thee from thy stem? 
For whom? my mother? ah! for whom? 
My mother slumbers in the tomb. 

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An Anthology of Jugoslav Poetry 

For whom? my sister? who has fled, 

To seek a foreign bridal bed. 

For whom? my brother? he is far, 

Far off, in dark and bloody war. 

For whom, for whom, but thee, my love? 

But thou art absent far above, 

Above these three green mountains, 

Beyond these three fresh fountains! 

S. J. B. 

XLIII 

LIBERTY 

NIGHTINGALE sings sweetly 
In the verdant forest; 
In the verdant forest, 
On the slender branches. 

Thither came three sportsmen, 
Nightingale to shoot at. 
She implored the sportsmen, 
"Shoot me not, ye sportsmen! 

Shoot me not, ye sportsmen! 
I will give you music, 
In the verdant garden, 
On the crimson rose-tree." 

But the sportsmen seize her; 
They deceive the songster, 
In a cage confine her, 
Give her to their loved one. 

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An Anthology of Jugoslav Poetry 

Nightingale will sing not — 
Hangs its head in silence: 
Then the sportsmen bear her 
To the verdant forests. 

Soon her song is waken'd; 
"Woe! woe! betides us, 
Friend from friend divided, 
Bird from forest banish'd!" 

S. J. B. 



XLIV 

THE DANCE 

OMAR'S court is near to Sarajevo; 
All around it is a woody mountain: 
In the midst there is a verdant meadow; 
There the maidens dance their joyous Kolo 20 
In the Kolo there is Damian's loved one; 
O'er the Kolo her fair head uprises, 
Rises gay and lustrous in her beauty. 
'Midst the Kolo Nicholas address'd her: 
"Veil your face, thou Damian's best beloved! 
For to-day death's summons waits on Damian. 
Half thy face veil over, lovely maiden!" 
Hardly the prophetic words were utter'd, 
Ere a gun was heard from the green forest; 
Damian, wounded, fell amidst the Kolo — 
Damian fell, and thus his love address'd him : 
"O my Damian ! O my sun of spring time ! 

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Wherefore, wherefore, didst thou shine so brightly, 
Thus so soon to sink behind the mountain?" 
"My beloved! O thou rose all beauteous! 
Wherefore didst thou bloom so fair, so lovely, 
And I never can enjoy, nor wear thee?" 

S. J. B. 



XLV 

ELEGY 

KONDA died — his mother's only offspring. 
O what grief was hers the youth to bury 
Far away from his own natural dwelling, 
So she bore him to a verdant garden, 
And 'neath pomegranate trees interr'd him. 
Every, every day she wandered thither: 
"Doth the earth, sweet son, lie heavy on thee? 
Heavy are the planks of maple round thee?" 
From his grave the voice of Konda answers: 
"Lightly presses the green earth upon me, 
Lightly press the planks of maple round me. 
Heavy is the virgins' malediction; 
When they sigh, their sighs reach God's high pres- 
ence; 
When they curse, the world begins to tremble; 
When they weep, even God is touch'd with pity." 

S. J. B. 

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XLVI 

INQUIRY 

A MAIDEN sat on th' ocean shore, 
And held this converse with herself: 
"O God of goodness and of love! 
What's broader than the mighty sea, 
And what is longer than the field, 
And what is swifter than the steed, 
What sweeter than the honey dew, 
What dearer than a brother is?" 
A fish thus answer'd from the sea: 
"O maia 1 ! thou art a foolish girl. 
And heaven is broader than the sea; 
The sea is longer than the field; 
The eye is swifter than the steed; 
Sugar more sweet than honey dew; 
Dearer than brother is thy love." 

S. J. B. 



i 



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XLVII 
DOUBT 

THREE young travellers travell'd forth to travel 
On their travels met a lovely maiden : 
Each will give the lovely maiden a present: 
One presents her with a fresh-pluck'd apple : 
One presents her with bosiljak 21 flowering: 
One a gold ring for the maiden's finger. 
He who gave the maiden the bosiljak 
Said, "The maid is mine — I claim the maiden." 
He who gave the maid the fresh-pluck'd apple 
Said, "The maid is mine — I claim the maiden." 
He who gave the gold ring to the maiden 
Said, "We'll go and seek the Judge together : 
He shall say to whom belongs the maiden." 

So they went and sought the Judge's presence: 
"Judge, thou honourable, judge between us: 
We three travell'd forth together,' 
And we met a maiden in our travels, 
And we gave her — gave her each a present: 
One of us a green and fresh-pluck'd apple: 
One presented her bosiljak flowering; 
And the third a gold ring for her finger : — 
Now decide to whom belongs the maiden." 

Thus the honourable judge decided: 
"We present bosiljak for its odour: 
As a pledge of love we give an apple: 
But to give a ring is a betrothing; — 
He who gave the ring must have the maiden." 

S. J. B. 
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XLVIII 

THE SULTANESS 

LISTEN ! I hear a cry, a cry ! 

The bells are ringing lustily; 

And the hens are cackling all in riot. 

No! no! no! the bells are quiet; 

The hens at rest with one another: 

'Tis the sister calls the brother: 

''Brother! I am a Moslem slave! 

Tear me from my Turkish grave. 

Small the price which sets me free: 

Of pearls two measures— of gold but three.' 

In vain she calls her brother. — 'O no! 

My treasures to my apparel go: 

The gold my horse's bridle must deck : 

My pearls must grace my maiden's neck ; 

Must buy a kiss — must buy a kiss.' 

The maid her brother answer'd with this 

"I am no slave! I am no less 

Than the sultan's chosen sultaness." 

S. J. B. 

XLIX 

BETROTHING 

HERE there is a maiden, 
Young, and yet a virgin: 
Give her then a husband, 
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Or give us the maiden, 
And we will betroth her 
To Ivan the student. 
He's our parson's nephew — 
He has art to write 22 on 
Pinions of the eagle. 
What shall be his subject? 
What — but bright-eyed maidens 
And the brows of heroes? 

S. J. B. 



CAUTIONS 

O THOU lovely maiden! 
Lo! thy praise has mounted 
To the monarch's city 
Maiden! thou hast planted 
The six-branch'd kaloper 2S 
And bosilka early. 
But the youths unmarried 
Long have been in waiting 
To tear up thy balsam — 
Thy bosilka pillage. 
Know'st thou not they linger 
Just to steal thy kisses? 
Maiden! Maiden! never 
Let those youths betray thee! 

S. J. B. 



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LI 
MAIDEN'S CARES 

O SLEEP! sweet sleep! in vain, in vain 

I bid thee visit me: 
The anxious thought disturbs my brain — 

Whose shall the maiden be? 
My mother says, "The goatherd, child ! 

The goatherd, child ! for thee." 
Nay, mother, nay ! not he, not he ; 
That were no happiness for me: 
He tracks the mountains steep and wild 
Where rocks and dangers be. 

O sleep ! sweet sleep ! in vain, in vain 

I bid thee visit me: 
The anxious thought disturbs my brain— 

Whose shall the maiden be? 
My mother says, "The shepherd, maid! 

The shepherd, maid! for thee." 
Nay, mother, nay! not he, not he; 
That were no happiness for me: 
He wanders through the distant glade 
Where wolves and perils be. 

O sleep ! sweet sleep ! in vain, in vain 

I bid thee visit me: 
The anxious thought disturbs my brain— 

Whose shall the maiden be? 

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My mother says, "The tradesman, dear! 

The tradesman, dear! for thee." 
Nay, mother, nay! not he, not he; 
That were no happiness for me : 
He is a wanderer far and near, 
His house no home may be. 

O sleep ! sweet sleep ! in vain, in vain 

I bid thee visit me: 
The anxious thought disturbs my brain — 

Whose shall the maiden be? 
My mother sa} 7 s, "The tailor, then 

The tailor, then, for thee!" 
Nay, mother ! nay ; not he, not he ! 
That were no happiness for me; 
The tailor's needle may be keen, 
His children hungry be. 

O sleep ! sweet sleep ! in vain, in vain 

I bid thee visit me ; 
The anxious thought disturbs my brain — 

Whose shall the maiden be? 
My mother says, — "The peasant, take 

The peasant, child! for thee." 
Yes! mother, yes! in him I see 
Both love and happiness for me; 
For though his labouring hands are black, 
The whitest bread eats he. 

S. J. B. 



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LII 
MOHAMMEDAN SONG 

HIS breath is amber, — sharp his reed; 
The hand which holds it, O! how white. 
He writes fair talismans, — a creed, 
For maidens doth the loved one write : 
"Of him that will not have thee, — think not! 
From him that fain would have thee, shrink not." 

S. J. B. 

LIII 

MINE EVERYWHERE 

"COME with me, thou charming maiden ! 

Be my love and come with me." 

'Wherefore play with words so foolish? 

That can never, never be; 

I had rather in the tavern 

Bear the golden cup, than ever, — 

Ever promise to be thine.' 

"I am the young tavern-keeper, 

So thou wilt indeed be mine." 

'Wherefore play with words so foolish? 
No such fate will e'er befall; 
In the coffee-house I'd rather 
Serve, envelop'd in my shawl, 

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Rather than be thine at all.' 
"But I am the coffee boiler, 
Thee, my maiden, will I call." 

'Wherefore play with words so foolish? 

That can never, never be; 

Rather o'er the field I'll wander, 

Changed into a quail, than ever, 

Ever give myself to thee.' 

"But I am a vigorous sportsman, 

And thou wilt belong to me." 

Tlay not, youth! with words so foolish, 

That can never, never be; 

Rather to a fish I'd change me, 

Dive me deep beneath the sea, 

Rather than belong to thee.' 

"But I am the finest network, 

Which into the sea I'll cast; 

Mine thou art, and mine thou shalt be,- 

Yes; thou must be mine at last; 

Be it here, or be it there, 

Mine thou must be everywhere." 

S. J. B. 



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LIV 
MAID AWAKING 

LOVELY maiden gather'd roses, 

Sleep o'ertook her then; 
Pass'd a youth and call'd the maiden, 

Waked the maid again : 
"Wake ! O wake ! thou lovely maiden, 

Why art slumbering now? 
All the rosy wreaths are fading, 

Fading on thy brow. 
He, thy heart's own love, will marry; 

He will break his vow!" 
'Let him marry, let him marry, 

I shall not complain; 
But the thunderbolt of heav'n 

Shall destroy him then.' 

S. J. B. 

LV 

MOTHER'S LOVE 

ON the balcony young Jovan sported, 

While he sported, lo! it crash'd beneath him, 

And he fell, — his right arm broke in falling! 

Who shall find a surgeon for the sufferer? 

Lo ! the Vila 24 of the mountain sends one, 

But the recompense he asks is heavy; 

Her w 7 hite hand demands he of the mother - 

Of the sister all her silken ringlets, — 

Of the wife he asks her pearl-strung necklace. 

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Freely gave her hand young Jovan's mother, 
Freely gave her silken hair his sister, 
But his wife refus'd her pearly treasure: — 
"Nay! I will not give my pearl-strung necklace, 
For it was a present of my father." 
Anger then incens'd the Mountain- Vila, 
Into Jovan's wounds she pour'd her poison, 
And he died, — Alas! for thee, poor mother! 

Then began the melancholy cuckoos, 25 

Cuckoos then began their funeral dirges; 

One pour'd out her mournful plaints unceasing, 

One at morning mourn'd, and mourn'd at ev'ning, 

And the third when'er sad thoughts came o'er her. 

Tell me which is the unceasing mourner? 

'Tis the sorrowing mother of young Jovan. 

Which at morning mourns and late at evening? 

'Tis the grieving sister of young Jovan. 

Which when melancholy thoughts come o'er her? 

'Tis the youthful wife, — the wife of Jovan. 

S. J. B. 

LVI 

THE GREYBEARD 

I HEARD young Falisava say: 
"I'll have no ancient greybeard, nay! 
A sprightly beardless youth for me." 
An aged man the maiden heard, 
He shaves his long and snowy beard, 
And paints his chin like ebony: 
To Falisava then he goes- — 
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"My heart! my soul! my garden rose! 
A beardless youth is come for thee." 
And then she listen'd — they were wed — 
And to the old man's home they sped. 

Then twilight came, and evening's shade 
And said the old man to the maid: 
"Sweet Falisava! maiden fair! 
Our bed beside the stove prepare, 
And the warm feather-mattress bear" — 
The maiden heard — the maiden went, 
And gather'd flowers of sweetest scent — 
Of sweetest scent and fairest hue, 
Which on the old man's bed she threw, 
And like on a strong-wing'd eagle then 
Flew to her father's home again. 

S. J. B. 



LVII 

MOHAMMEDAN TALE 

WHO is mourning there in Glamodelec's fortress? 

'Tis the Vila — 'tis an angry serpent? 

'Tis no Vila — 'tis no angry serpent! 

'Tis the maid Emina there lamenting — 

There lamenting, for her woe is grievous ! 

Lo! the Ban 20 the maiden hath imprison'd — 

Hath imprison'd her, and will baptize her; 

But Emina never will be faithless — 

From the white-wall' d tower will fling her rather. 

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Thus the unbelieving Ban address'd her: 

"Unbelieving Ban! a moment tarry, 

While I hasten to the upper story." 

And she hasten'd to the upper story; 

Look'd around her from the white-wall'd fortress: 

In the distance saw her father's dwelling — 

Saw the white school where she pass'd her childhood 

"O my father's home! my poor heart's sorrow! 

School of childhood! once that childhood's terror! 

Many a day of weariness and sorrow 

Did thy small-writ lessons give Emina." 

Then she wrapp'd her snowy robes around her — 
Thought not of the band that bound her tresses, 
And she flung her from the fortress turret. 
But her hair-band caught the open window — 
From the window, ah she hung suspended — 
Hung a week suspended from the window — 
Then her hair gave away — and then the maiden 
On the greensward fell. 

The Christian heard it — 
He, the Christian Ban, and hasten'd thither; 
Oft and oft he kiss'd the dead Emina; 
And he peacefully entom'd the maiden. 
O'er her grave a chapel he erected, 
And with golden apples he adorn'd it. 
Ere a week had pass'd away, descended 
On her tomb a beauteous light from heaven; 
At her head a beauteous light was kindled; 
At her feet another light shone sweetly; 
And her aged mother saw and wonder'd 
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From her chain she took her knife, and plunged it- 
Plunged it deep within her troubled bosom — 
Fell, and died — O melancholy mother! 



S. J. B. 



LVIII 
LOVE'S DIFFICULTIES 

I LOVED her from her infancy, 

LadoS 27 Lado! 
From childhood to maturity, 

Lado! Lado! 
And when I claim'd the smiling maid, 

Lado ! Lado ! 
"Ye are of kindred blood!" they said, 

Lado ! Lado ! 
"Brother and sister's children ye, 

Lado ! Lado ! 
It were a sin to steal a kiss," 

Lado ! Lado ! 
Oh what a sacrifice is this ! 

Lado! Lado! 
I'll steal a kiss though I be riven, 

Lado ! Lado ! 
From every, every hope of heaven, 

Lado ! Lado ! 
For what would heaven become to me 

Lado! Lado! 
When the long nights of autumn flee, 

Lado ! Lado ! 

S. J. B. 

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An Anthology of Jugoslav Poetry 



LIX 

WITCHES 

THE sky is cover'd with stars again: 
The plains are cover'd with flocks of sheep 
But where is the shepherd ? On the plain 
The shepherd is lost in careless sleep: 
The youthful Radoje sleeps: — Arise! 
Awake! his sister Jania cries. 

"Jania! sister nay! depart! 
My body to witches is plighted : 
My mother has torn away my heart, 
And my aunt mv mother lighted." 

S. J. B. 
LX 

PLEDGES 

THE wind was with the roses playing: 

To Ranko's tent it blew their leaves : 
Milica, Ranko, there were staying, 

And Ranko writes — Milica weaves. 
His letter done, he drops his pen : 

Her flnish'd web she throws aside: 
And lo! I heard the lover then 

Low whisper to his promised bride: 
"Milica! tell me truly now 

And dost thou love me — love me best? 
Or heavy is thy nuptial vow?" — 

And thus the maid the youth address'd : 

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An Anthology of Jugoslav Poetry 

"O trust me — thou my heart — my soul — 
That thou art dearer far to me — 

Far dearer, Ranko! than the whole 
Of brothers — many though they be : 

And that the vows we pledged together 

Are lighter than the lightest feather." 

S. J. B. 



LXI 

COMPLAINT 

O FLOWER! so lovely in thy bloom, 
Be evil fate thy mother's doom ! 
Thy mother, who so kindly nurst, 
And sent thee to our village first. 
Where heroes o'er their cups romancing, 
And our young striplings stones are fling- 
ing, 
And our delighted brides are dancing, 
And our gay maidens songs are singing — 
'Twas then I saw thee, lovely flower! 
And lost my quiet from that hour. 

S. J. B. 



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LXII 
SONG 

THE winter is gone, 

Beloved, arise! 
The spring is come on, 
The birds are all singing: 

Beloved, arise! 

The roses are springing; 
Earth laughs out in love : 

Beloved, arise ! 
And thou, my sweet dove! 
O waste not thy time : 

Beloved, arise. 

Enjoy the sweet bliss 
Of a kiss — of a kiss: 

Beloved, arise 
In the hour of thy prime, 

Beloved, arise! 

S. J. B. 

LXIII 

MOHAMMEDAN SONG 

I HAVE piercing eyes — the eyes of falcons 
lam of undoubted noble lineage: 
I can read the heart of Osman Aga: 
I was ask'd by Osman Aga's mother: 

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An Anthology of Jugoslav Poetry 

"Cursed witch : and yet most lovely maiden ! 
Why with white and red dost paint thy 

visage ? 
Fascinate no longer Osman Aga ! 
I will speed me to the verdant forest, 
Build me up of maple-trees a dwelling, 
And lock up within it Osman Aga." 

Then the maid replied to Osman's mother: 
"Lady Anka! Osman Aga's mother — 
I have falcon eyes — and eyes of devils: 
With them I can ope thy ample dwelling — 
With them visit, too, thy Osman Aga." 

S. J. B. 

LXIV 

BROTHERLESS SISTERS 

TWO solitary sisters, who 
A brother's fondness never knew, 
Agreed, poor girls, with one another, 
That they would make themselves a brother: 
They cut them silk, as snow-drops white ; 
And silk, as richest rubies bright; 
They carved his body from a bough 
Of box-tree from the mountain's brow; 
Two jewels dark for eyes they gave ; 
For eyebrows, from the ocean's wave 
They took two leeches ; and for teeth 
Fix'd pearls above, and pearls beneath; 
For food they gave him honey sweet, 
And said, "Now live, and speak, and eat.' 

S. J. B. 

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LXV 
MISFORTUNES 

ON the hill, the fir-tree hill, 

Grows a tall fir-tree: 
There a maiden, calm and still, 

Sits delightedly. 
To a youthful swain she pledges 

Vows: "O come to me: 
Lightly spring across the hedges: 

Come — but slightly. 
Come at eve — lest harm betide thee. 

If any home thou seek, 
In our quiet dwelling hide thee; 

Not a whisper speak." 
And he o'er the hedges sprung, 

Lo! a twig he tore: 
When the house-door ope he flung, 

Noisy was the door. 
When he enter'd in, there fell 

Shelves upon the floor, 
'Twas the broken china's knell — 

O the luckless hour! 
Then her mother comes afeard, 

Trips and cuts her knee; 
And her father burns his beard 

In perplexity. 
And the youth must quench the fire, 

And the maiden must retire. 

S. J. B. 



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LXVI 

TIMIDITY 

LO! upon the mountain green 
Stands a fir-tree tall and thin — 
'Tis no fir-tree — none at all — 
'Tis a maiden thin and tall. 
Three long years the enamour'd one 
Fed upon her eyes alone; 
On the fourth, he sought the bliss 
Of the maiden's primal kiss 
"Why, thou witching maid ! repel me- 
Why with foot of scorn dost tread, 
On my feet, my boots of red! 
Why despise me, maiden! tell me." 

"No, my friend, I will not tread 
On thy feet, thy boots of red! 
Come at evening — come and string 
Pearls for me — and thou shalt fling 
O'er me my embroider'd shawl. 
We will go at morning's call 
To the kolo — Friend ! but thou 
Must not touch the maiden now — 

Know'st thou not that busy slander 
Follows us wher'er we wander? 
Evil tongues are ever talking; 
Calumny abroad is walking 
Know'st thou that a simple kiss 
Ample food for slander is? 

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'Never did we kiss,' you'll say, 
'Till last evening and today.' 
Come at evening — come, my dear. 
Sisters' eyes will watch thee here." 

S. J. B. 



LXVII 
YOUTH ENAMOURED 

"WHERE wert thou! Misho! yesterday?" 

"O 'twas a happy day for me! 

A lovely maiden cross'd my way 

A maiden smiling lovelily 

And those sweet smiles for me were meant ; 

I claimed her — mother answer'd, 'No!' 

Would steal her — vain was the intent, 

For many guardians watch'd her so. 
There grows a verdant almond-tree 
Before her house — its boughs I'll climb; 
Wail like a cuckoo mournfully, 
And swallow-like, at evening time, 
Pour forth my woe in throbbings deep 
And like a sorrowing widow sigh, 
And like a youthful maiden weep. 
So may her mother turn her eye, 
Pitying my grief, her heart may move, 
And she may give me her I love." 

S. J. B. 



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LXVIII 

BLACK EYES AND BLUE 

I WISH the happy time were nigh, 
When youths are sold, that I might buy. 
But for an azure-eyed Mlinar, 28 
I would not give a single dinar, 
Though for a raven-black eyed youth, 
A thousand golden coins, in truth. 
Alas! alas! and is it true? 
My own fair youth has eyes of blue ; 
Yes ! they are blue — yet dear to me — 
Will he forgive my levity? 
Ye maidens ! pray him to forgive me ; 
Nay ! spare me now — and rather leave me 
To tell him "I am yours" — and smile 
In fond affection all the while. 

S. J. B. 



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LXIX 

THE WIDOW 

ROSE! O smile upon the youth no longer; 
He in his impatience to be wedded, 
Chose a widow for his years unsuited, 
And wher'er she goes, where'er she tarries, 
She is mourning for her ancient husband. 
"O my husband ! first and best possession ! 
Happy were the days we spent together! 
Early we retired and late we waken'd 
Thou didst wake me kissing my white forehead, 
'Up, my heart! the sun is high in heaven, 
And our aged mother is arisen.' ' : 

S. J. B. 



LXX 

ALARMS 

FAIREST youths are here — but not the fairest! 
Could I hear him now, or could I see him, — 
Could I know if he be sick, or faithless! 
Were he sick, my ears would rather hear it, 
Than that he had loved another maiden. 
Sickness may depart, and time restore him, — 
If enamour'd, — never! never! never! 

S. J. B. 
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LXXI 
FOND WIFE 

O ! IF I were a mountain streamlet, 

I know where I would flow 
I'd spring into the crystal Sava, 

Where the gay vessels go, 
That I might look upon my lover — 

For fain my heart would know 
If, when he holds the helm, he ever 

Looks on my rose, and thinks 
Of her who gave it ; — if the nosegay 

I made of sweetest pinks 
Is faded yet, and if he wear it. 

On Saturday I cull 
To give him for a Sabbath present 

All that is beautiful. 

S. J. B. 

LXXII 

UNHAPPY BRIDE 

THE maiden gave the ring she wore 
To him who gave it her before: 
"O take the ring — for thou and thine 
Are hated, — not by me — but mine — 
Father and mother will not hear thee 
Brother and sister both forswear thee 
Yet, think not, youth, — I think not ill 
Of her who needs must love thee still ! 



An Anthology of Jugoslav Poetry 

I am a poor unhappy maid, 
Whose path the darkest clouds o'ershade, 
I sowed sweet basil, and there grew 
On that same spot the bitterest rue 
And wormwood, that unholy flower, 
I now alone my marriage dower ; 
The only flower which they shall wear 
Who to the maiden's marriage comes, 
When for my marriage altar there 
The guests shall find the maiden's tomb. 

S. J. B. 



LXXIII 

LAST PETITION 

UPON her mother's bosom lay 
Young Mira, and she pined away. 
'Twas in her own maternal bed; 
And thus the anxious mother said : — 
"What ails thee, tell me, Mira, pray?" 

"O ask me not, my mother dear! 
I feel that death approaches near, 
I shall not rise from this my bed; 
But, mother mine ! when I am dead — 
O mother mine ! call round me all 
My plaj-mates to my funeral; 
And let the friends I loved receive 
The little gifts that I shall leave ; 
Then let me sleep in peace beneath. — 
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There's one, my mother, I should grieve 
To be divided from in death. 
Then call around me priests divine, 
And pious pilgrims, mother mine ! 
The forehead of thy dying daughter 
Steep in the rose's fragrant water. 
And, mother, let my forehead be 
Dried with the rose-leaves from the tree ; 
And pillow not thy daughter's head, 
O mother! with the common dead; 
But let me have a quiet tomb 
Adjacent to my Mir jo's home, 
And near my Mirjo's nightly bed; 
So when he wakes his thoughts shall dwell 
With her he loved and loved so well." 

S. J. B. 



LXXIV 
LOVE FOR A BROTHER 

THE sun sank down behind the gold-flower'd hill; 

The warriors from the fight approach the shore: 
There stood young George's wife, serene and still: 

She counted all the heroes o'er and o'er, 
And found not those she loved — though they were 
three : — 

Her husband, George; her marriage friend, an- 
other 
Who late had led the marriage revelry ; 

The third, her best-loved, her only brother. 

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Her husband he was dead; she rent her hair 

For him — Her friend was gone, — for him she tore 
Her cheeks — Her only brother was not there : 

For him she pluck'd her eye-balls from their bed. 
Her hair grew forth as lovely as before ; 

Upon her cheeks her former beauties spread; 
But nothing could her perish'd sight restore : 

Nought heals the heart that mourns a brother 
dead. S. J. B. 



LXXV 

REBUKE 

"MAIDEN! hast thou seen my steed?' 
"Faithless one! not I, indeed! 
But I heard that thou hadst tied him 
To the mountain-maple tree; 
When a stranger pass'd beside him, 
Full of scorn and rage was he: 
With his hoofs the ground he beat; 
Of his master's guilt he knew. 
Not one maiden did he cheat. 
No; that master cheated two: 
One has borne a wretched child; 
One with grief and shame is wild." 

S. J. B. 



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LXXVI 

MAN'S FAITH 

SAY! dost thou remember when under the vine, 
Thy tears fell in streams on the breast of thy maid ; 
When thy heart burst in joy as I own'd thee for 

mine ? 
Alas! for the maiden whose peace is betray'd 
By the tears and the vows of a falsehood like thine ! 
As the changeable sky — now o'erclouded, now 

bright, 
Is the. faith of thy race — their language to-day, 
"I will wed thee to-morrow, my love and my light!" 
To-morrow — "Let's wait till the harvest's away." 
The harvest is ended, the winter is nigh 
And another maid dwells in their hearts and their 

eye. 

S. J. B. 
LXXVII 

MAIDEN'S AFFECTION 

"BLACK is the night — an outcast lad 
Is wandering in our village, mother! 
Thy daughter's heart is very sad, 
Sad even to death ! He has no home : 
O give him ours, he has no other, 
And bid the lad no longer roam !" 
"Nay! daughter, let this outcast stray, 
He is a proud and city youth ; 
Will ask for wine at break of day, 

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And costly meats at eve, forsooth, 
And for his city-tutor'd head 
Will want a soft and stately bed." 

"O mother! In God's name divine, 
Give the poor lad a shelter now: 
My eyes shall serve instead of wine, 
For costly meats my maiden brow. 
My neck shall be his honey comb. 
His bed the dewy grass shall be, 
And heaven his stately canopy. 
His head shall rest upon my arm. 
O mother ! give the youth a home, 
And shelter, shelter him from harm." 

S. J. B. 



LXXVTII 
MARRIAGE SONGS 
The Marriage Leader: 

"MAKE ready! make ready," 
To his sister the youth is repeating; 
"Make ready my steed for the wedding, 
O sister ! the young Doge 29 is waiting. 
I'm bid to the wedding, I'm summon'd to guide 
To the wedding the maiden — the Doge's young 
bride." 

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An Anthology of Jugoslav Poetry 

The approaching bridegroom: 

What is shining on the verdant mountain? 
Sun — or moon — that shines so brightly, 
'Tis not sun, or moon that shines so brightly, 
'Tis the bridegroom hasting to the marriage. 



Parting of the bride: 

Sweetest of maidens! O be still, 
Be silent — prithee weep not now 
Thy mother she will weep — wilt fill 
Her sorrowing eyes with tears, for thou 
Wilt leave thy cherish'd home ere long: 
And when thy young companions go 
To the fresh stream, amidst the throng 
She'll seek thee — will she find thee! No! 

Departure of the wedding guests : 

O thou young bridegroom, thou rose in its beauty, 
Lo! we have brought thee a rosemary branch, 
And if the rosemary branch should decay, 
Thine will the shame be, the sorrow be ours. 
Scatter the rosemary leaves o'er thy way; 
Let not destruction disparage its flowers. 

To the bride, when the marriage hood is first put on : 

Maid from a distant forest tree, 
A verdant leaf is blown to thee; 

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And that green leaf has fixed it now, 

In the green garland on thy brow: 

The garland green, that we have bound 

Maiden! thy auburn ringlets round: 

O no! it is no leaf, that we 

Have braided in a wreath for thee; 

'Tis the white hood that thou must wear, 

The token of domestic care: 

Thou hast no mother now — another, 

A stranger must be called thy mother; 

And sister-love thy heart must share, 

With one who was not born thy brother. 

At the marriage: 

An apple tree at Ranko's door was growing, 
Its trunk was silver, golden were its branches; 
Its branches golden and of pearls its foliage, 
Its leaves were pearls, and all its apple corals. 
And many dovelets, on the branches seated, 
Coo'd in their fond affection to each other; 
Coo'd loudly, and they pluck'd the pearls — one 

only 
One, only one was silent, one was silent — 
It coo'd not, pluck'd no pearls from off the 

branches : 
That one was terrified by Ranko's mother: 
"Begone — grey dovelet! thou art an intruder! 
Was not the apple-tree by Ranko planted? 
By Ranko planted, and by Ranko watered, 
That it might shade the guests at Ranko's 

marriage, 
Shade all his guests beneath its joyous branches." 

S. J. B. 

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LXXIX 

HEROES SERVED 

UPON the silent Danube's shore, 

When ev'ning wastes, 'tis sweet to see 

'Their golden wine cups flowing o'er' ; 
Our heroes in their revelry. 

A youthful beauty pours the wine, 
And each will pledge a cup to her; 

And each of charms that seem divine, 
Would fain become a worshipper. 

"Nay! heroes, nay!" the virgin cried, 
"My service — not my love — I give: 

For one alone — for none beside: 
For one alone I love and live." 

S. J. B. 

LXXX 

YOUTH AND AGE 

LO! the maid her rosy cheeks is laving. 
Listen! while she bathes her snowy forehead: 
"Forehead ! if I thought an old man's kisses 
Would be stamp'd upon thee, I would hasten 
To the forest, and would gather wormwood 
Into boiling water press its bitters: 
With it steep my forehead ev'ry morning, 
That the old man's kiss might taste of wormwood. 

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But, if some fair youth should come to kiss me, 
I would hurry to the verdant garden: 
I would gather all its sweetest roses, 
Would condense their fragrance, — and at morning, 
Every morning, would perfume my forehead 
So the youth's sweet kiss would breathe of fragrance, 
And his heart be gladden'd with the odour. 
Better dwell with youth upon the mountains, 
Than with age in luxury's richest palace: 
Better sleep with youth on naked granite, 
Than with eld on silks howe'er voluptuous. " 

S. J. B. 

LXXXI 

CHOICE 

IN my court the morning's twilight found me ; 

At the chase the early sun while rising, 

I upon the mountain — and behind it, 

On that mountain, 'neath a dark-green pine 

tree 
Lo! I saw a lovely maiden sleeping; 
On a clover-sheaf her head was pillow'd ; 
On her bosom lay two snowy dovelets; 
In her lap there was a dappled fawnkin. 
There I tarried till the fall of ev'ning: 
Bound my steed at night around the pine-tree : 
Bound my falcon to the pine-tree branches : 
Gave the sheaf of clover to my courser : 
Gave the two white dovelets to my falcon: 
Gave the dappled fawn to my good greyhound : 
And, for me, — I took the lovelv maiden. 

S. J. B. 
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LXXXII 

ANXIETY 

I FAIN would sing — but will be silent now, 
For pain is sitting on my lover's brow; 
And he would hear me — and, though silent, 

deem 
I pleased myself, but little thought of him, 
While of nought else I think ; to him I give 
My spirit — and for him alone I live; 
Bear him within my heart, as mothers bear 
The last and youngest object of their care. 

S. J. B. 
LXXXIII 

INQUIRY 

SAY, heavenly spirit ! kindly say, 

Where tarries now this youth of mine ; 

Say, is he speeding on his way, 
Or doth he linger, drinking wine? 

If he be speeding on, — elated 

With joy and gladness let him be: 

If quaffing wine, — in quiet seated, 
O! his be peace and gaiety! 

But if he love another maiden, 

I wish him nought but sorrow : — No ! 

Then be his heart with anguish laden! 
And let Hjeaven smite his path with woe ! 

S. J. B. 

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An Anthology of Jugoslav Poetry 



LXXXIV 

FROZEN HEART 

THICK fell the snow upon St. George's day; 
The little birds all left their cloudy bed ; 
The maiden wander'd bare-foot on her way ; 
Her brother bore her sandals, and he said: 
"O sister mine! cold, cold thy feet must be." 
"No! not my feet, sweet brother! not my feet — 
But my poor heart is cold with misery. 
There's nought to chill me in the snowy sleet 
My mother — tis my mother who hath chill'd me, 
Bound me to one who with disgust hath fill'd me." 

S. J. B. 

LXXXV 
UNION IN DEATH 

FONDLY lov'd a youth and youthful maiden, 
And they wash'd them in the self-same water, 
And they dried them with the self-same linen 
Full a year had pass'd, and no one knew it 
Yet another year — 'twas all discover'd, 
And the father heard it, and the mother; 
But the mother check'd their growing fondness, 
Banish'd love, and exiled them for ever. 

To the stars he look'd, and bade them tell her: 
"Die, sweet maiden! on the week's last even; 
Early will I die on Sabbath morning." 
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As the stars foretold the event, it happen'd ; 
On the eve of Saturday the maiden 
Died — and died the youth on Sunday morning: 
And they were, fond pair, together buried; 
And their hands were intertwined together: 
In those hands they placed the greenest apples ; 
When behold! ere many moons had shone there, 
From the grave sprung up a verdant pine-tree, 
And a fragrant crimson rose-tree follow'd: 
Round the pine the rose-tree fondly twined it, 
As around the straw the silk clings closely. 

S. J. B. 



LXXXVI 

LOVE AND SLEEP 35 

I WALKT the high and hollow wood, from dawn 

to even-dew, 
The wild-eyed wood stared at me, and unclaspt, and 

let me through, 
Where mountain pines, like great black birds, stood 

percht against the blue. 

Not a whisper heaved the woven woof of those warm 

trees : 
All the little leaves lay flat, unmoved of bird or 

breeze : 
Day was losing light all round, by indolent degrees. 
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Underneath the brooding branches, all in holy shade, 
Unseen hands of mountain things a mossy couch had 

made: 
There asleep among pale flowers my beloved was 

laid. 

Slipping down, a sunbeam bathed her brows with 

bounteous gold, 
Unmoved upon her maiden breast her heavy hair 

was roll'd, 
Her smile was silent as the smile on corpses three 

hours old. 
"O God!" I thought, "if this be death, that makes 

not sound nor stir." 
My heart stood still with tender awe, I dared not 

waken her, 
But to the dear God, in the sky, this prayer I did 

prefer : 

"Grant, dear Lord, in the blessed sky, a warm wind 

from the sea, 
Then shake a leaf down on my love from yonder 

leafy tree; 
That she may open her sweet eyes, and haply look on 

me." 

The dear God, from the distant sea, a little wind 

releast, 
It shook a leaflet from the tree, and laid it on her 

breast, 
Her sweet eyes ope'd and looked on me. How can 

I tell the rest ? O. M. 

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LXXXVII 

LOVE CONFERS NOBILITY 

HE. Violet, little one mine, 

I would love thee, but thou art so small. 

She. Love me, my love, from those heights of thine, 
And I shall grow tall, so tall, 
The pearl is small, but it hangs above 
The royal brow, and a kingly mind 
The quail is little, little, my love, 
But she leaves the hunter behind. 

O. M. 

LXXXVIII 

A SOUL'S SWEETNESS 

HE. O maiden of my soul ! 

What odour from the orange hast thou stole, 
That .breathes about thy breast with such sweet 

power ? 
What sweetness, unto me 
More sweet than amber honey to the bee 
That builds in the oaken hole, 
And sucks the essential summer of the year 
To store with sweetest sweets her hollow 

tower? 
Or is it breath of basil, maiden dear? 
Or of the immortal flower ? 

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She. By the sweet heavens, young lover ! 

No odour from the orange have I stole ; 

Nor have I robb'd for thee, 

Dearest the amber dower 

Of the building bee, 

From any hollow tower 

In oaken bole: 

But if, on this poor breast thou dost discover 

Fragrance of such sweet power, 

Trust me, O my beloved and my lover, 

'Tis not of basil, nor the immortal flower, 

But from a virgin soul. 

O. M. 



LXXXIX 

REMINISCENCES 

HE. "AND art thou wed, my beloved? 
My Beloved of long ago?" 

She. "I am wed, my Beloved. And I have given 
A child to this world of woe. 
And the name I have given my child is thine: 
So that, when I call to me my little one, 
The heaviness of this heart of mine 
For a little while may be gone. 
For I say not . . . 'Hither, hither, my son!' 
But . , . 'Hither, my Love, my Beloved.' " 



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xc 

SLEEP AND DEATH 

THE morning is growing: the cocks are crowing: 
Let me aw T ay, love, away! 

'Tis not the morning light; 
Only the moonbeam white. 
Stay, my white lamb, stay, 
.And sleep on my bosom, sleep. 

The breeze is blowing: the cattle are lowing: 
Let me away, love, away ! 

'Tis not the cattle there; 
Only the call to prayer. 
Stay, my white lamb, stay, 
And sleep on my bosom, sleep. 



The Turks are warning to the mosque, 'tis morn- 
ing! 
Let me away, love, away! 



'Tis not the Turks, sweet soul! 
Only the wolves that howl. 
Stay, my white lamb, stay, 
And sleep on my bosom, sleep. 

The white roofs are gleaming: the glad children 

screaming : 
Let me away, love, away! 

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'Tis the night-clouds that gleam: 
The night winds that scream. 
Stay, my white lamb, stay, 
And sleep on my bosom, sleep. 

My mother in the gateway calls to me . . 

"Come straightway" 
And I must away, love, away! 

Thy mother's in her bed, 
Dumb, holy, and dead. 
Stay, my white lamb, stay, 
And sleep on my bosom, sleep. 

O. M. 



XCI 

IMPERFECTION 

ALL in the spring, 
When little birds sing, 
And flowers do talk 
From stalk to stalk; 
Whispering to a silver shower, 
A violet did boast to be 
Of every flower the fairest flower 
That blows by lawn or lea. 
But a rose that blew thereby 
Answer'd her reproachfully, 
(All in the spring, 
When little birds sing, 

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And flowers do talk 

From stalk to stalk) : 

"Violet, I marvel me 

Of fairest flowers by lawn or lea 

The fairest thou should'st boast to be; 

For one small defect I spy, 

Should make thee speak more modestly 

Thy face is fashion'd tenderly, 

But then it hangs awry." 

O. M. 



XCII 

EMANCIPATION 

THE Day of Saint George! and a girl pray'd 

thus : 
"O Day of Saint George, when again to us 
Thou returnest, and they carouse 
Here in my mother's house, 
May'st thou find me either a corpse or a bride, 
Either buried or wed; 
Rather married than dead ; 
But, however, that may betide, 
And whether a corpse or a spouse, 
No more in my mother's house." 

O. M. 



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XCIII 

PLUCKING A FLOWER 

HE. O maiden, vermeil rose! 
Unplanted, unsown, 
Blooming alone 
As the wild-flower blows, 
With a will of thine own! 
Neither grafted nor grown, 
Neither gather'd nor blown, 
O maiden, O rose ! 
Blooming alone 
In the green garden-close 
Unnoticed, unknown, 
Unpropt, unsupported, 
Unwater'd, and uncourted, 
Unwoo'd and unwed, 
A sweet wild rose, 
Who knows? Who knows? 
Might I kiss thee, and court thee? 
My kiss would not hurt thee! 
A sweet, sweet rose, 
In the green garden-close, 
If a gate were undone, 
And if I might come to thee 
And meet thee alone? 
Sue thee, and woo thee, 
And make thee my own ? 
• Clasp thee, and cull thee, what harm would be 
done? 

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An Anthology of Jugoslav Poetry 

She. Beside thy field my garden blows, 

Were a gate in the garden left open . . .who 

knows ? 
And I water'd my garden at eventide? 
(Who knows?) 

And if somebody silently happen'd to ride 
That way? And a horse to the gate should be 

tied? 
And if somebody (Who knows who,), un- 

espied, 
Were to enter my garden to gather a rose? 
Who knows ? . . . I suppose 
No harm need be done. My beloved one, 
Come lightly, come softly, at set of the sun ! 
Come, and caress me! 
Kiss me, and press me, 
Fold me, and hold me! 
Kiss me with kisses that leave not a trace, 
But set not the print of thy teeth on my face, 
Or my mother will see it, and scold me. 

O. M. 



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An Anthology of Jugoslav Poetry 



XCIV 

A WISH 

I WOULD I were a rivulet, 
And I know where I would run! 
To Save, the chilly river, 
Where the market boats pass on ; 
To see my dear one stand 
By the rudder ; and whether the rose 
Which,- at parting, I put in his hand, 
Warm with a kiss in it, blows; 
Whether it blows or withers: 
I pluckt it on Saturday; 
I gave it to him on Sunday ; 
On Monday he went away. 

O. M. 



XCV 

A SERBIAN BEAUTY 

'TIS the Kolo 31 that dances before the white house, 
And 'tis Stojan's fair sister, O fair, fair is she! 
Too fair she is truly, too fair, heaven knows, 
(God forgive her!) so cruel to be. 
The fair Vila, whom the wan clouds fondly follow 
O'er the mountain wherever she roam it, 
Is not fairer nor whiter than she. 
Her long soft eyelash is the wing of the swallow 
When the dew of the dawn trembles from it, 
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And as dawn-stars her blue eyes to me: 

Her eyebrows so dark are the slender sea-leeches; 

Her rich-bloomed cheeks are the ripe river peaches, 

Her teeth are white pearls from the sea ; 

Her lips are two half-open'd roses; 

And her breath the south wind, which discloses 

The sweetness that soothes the wild bee. 

She is tall as the larch, she is slender 

As any green bough the birds move; 

See her dance — 'tis the peacock's full splendour! 

Hear her talk — 'tis the coo of the dove ! 

And, only but let her look tender — 

'Tis all heaven melting down from above! 

O. M. 

XCVI 

SLEEPLESSNESS 

SLEEP will not take the place of Love, 
Nor keep the place from Sorrow. 
Oh, when the long nights slowly move 
To meet a lonely morrow, 
The burden of the broken days. 
The grief that on the bosom weighs, 
And all the heart oppresses, 
But lightly lies on restless eyes 
Love seals no more with kisses. 

O. M. 



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XCVII 
A MESSAGE 

SWEET sister of my loved, unloving one, 

Kiss thy wild brother, kiss him tenderly! 

Ask him what is it, witless, I have done 

That he should look so coldly upon me? 

Ah, well ... I know he recks not ! Let it be. 

Yet say . . . "There's many a woodland nod- 
ding yet 

For who needs wood when winter nights be 
cold." 

Say . . . "Love to give finds ever love to get. 

There lack not goldsmiths where there lacks 
not gold. 

The wood will claim the woodman by-and-by ; 

The gold ( be sure ! ) the goldsmith cannot miss ; 

Each maid to win finds lads to woo: and 
I . . ." 

Well, child, but only tell him, tell him this ! 

Sweet sister, tell him this ! 

O. M. 

XCVIII 

TRANSPLANTING A FLOWER 

O MAIDEN, mother's golden treasure! 
Purest gold of perfect pleasure! 
Do they beat thee, and ill-treat thee, 
That I meet thee all alone ? 
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An Anthology of Jugoslav Poetry 

Do they beat thee, that I meet thee 
All too often, all too late, 
After nightfall, at the gate 
Of the garden, all alone? 
Tell me, tell me, little one, 
Do they do it? If I knew it, 
They should rue it ! I would come 
Oftener, later, yet again, 
(Hail, or snow, or wind, or rain!) 
Oftener, later [ Nor in vain: 
For if mother, for my sake, 
Were to drive thee out of home, 
Just three little steps 'twould take 
(Think upon it, little one!) — 
Just three little steps, or four, 
To my door from mother's door. 
Love is wise. I say no more. 
Ponder on it, little one! 

O. M. 

XCIX 

ISOLATION 

THE night is very dark and very lonely: 
And as dark, and all as lonely, is my heart: 
And the sorrow that is in it night knows only: 
For the dawn breaks, and my heart breaks. Far apart 
From my old self seems my new self. And my 

mother 
And my sister are in heaven, — so they say: 
And the dear one dearer yet than any other 
Is far, far away. 

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The sweet hour of his coming . . . night is falling ! 
The hour of our awakening . . . bird on bough ! 
The hour of last embraces . . . friends are calling 
"Love, farewell!" . . . and every hour is silent now. 

O. M. 



FATIMA AND MEHMED 

BENEATH a milk-white almond tree, 

Fatima and Mehmed be. 

The black earth is their bridal bed ; 

The thick-starred sky clear-spread 

Is their coverlet all the night, 

As they lie in each other's arms so white. 

The grass is full of honey-dew; 

The crescent moon, that glimmers through 

The unrippled leaves, is faint and new: 

And the milk-white almond blossoms 

All night long fall on their bosoms. 

O. M. 



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An Anthology of Jugoslav Poetry 

CI 

MORAVA HORSES * 2 

ON the banks of Morava, 

Sleek black horses danced, 

"Could not we," one horse did say, 

"Over this river swim to-day?" 

But the second cried, "Beware, 

Deep flows the stream, beware, beware ! 

'Twas by these banks of Morava, 

At set of sun a knight was drowned, 

And dawn had broke ere he was found. 

If mother this poor knight had had, 

Within a day his fate she'd know, 

And him to seek next day would go; 

The third day, finding him, would weep, 

And who knows how long sad heart keep?" 

To which a third black horse replied 

"No mother mourns him as lost son, 

But mother-in-law the knight has one! 

She in one year would surely cry : 

'What has my daughter's husband done?' 

And in two years find time to go 

Toward the place where he lay low; 

And when there should have passed years three, 

His grave, perchance, she then might see — 

Where long since green grass had grown, 

The peacock preened himself and flown." 

J. w. w. 

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CII 

THE GIRL AND THE GRASS 

IN the green grass a girl fell asleep; 
When she awoke the grass was red, 
And her ruddy cheeks were green instead. 
Before the Kadi the girl sued the grass: 
"Give me, O grass, my color red!" 
And to the girl the red grass said: 
"Thy color red, I'll give it thee, 
When my color green thou dost give me." 
Then before the Kadi they exchanged color 
And became bosom-sisters for ever and ever. 

J. W. W. 

cm 

THE SUN AND THE GIRL 

TO the great sun a radiant maiden cried : 
"Bright sun, thy beauty cannot equal mine!" 
Whereon the burning orb complained to God : 
"Let me bring low her pride, and scorch her 

face." 
To which request his mighty Maker said: 
"The burden that she bears is weight enough ; 
Her father and her mother, both I've taken ; 
One simple, smiling youth alone is left to her; 
Touch not their joy, let him be fond of her." 

J. W. W. 
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An Anthology of Jugoslav Poetry 

CIV 

CURSE AND BLESSING 

TO the river ran the mother, 

To her Mary by the water, 

Dreaming there, the pretty daughter: 

"Have you washed the linen, Mary?" 

"Why, mother dear, not yet begun; 

A naughty youth did come my w T ay, 

And muddy made the silvery water." 

"I'll curse him, then; I'll curse him, daughter! 

Cold be his heart as ice is cold." 

"As cold as the sun o'er the corn-fields, mother!" 

"May his face be black before all men!" 

"As black as the snow on the mountains, mother!" 

"May he be hanged! — Dost hear, my daughter!" 

"But hanged upon my neck, dear mother!" 

"From grievous wounds he then shall suffer!" 

"Let my own teeth, then, cause them, mother!" 

"May the wild torrent take him, daughter!" 

"And bring him home to me, my mother!" 

J. w. w. 



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cv 

THE NICEST FLOWER IX THE WORLD 

A YELLOW orange by the sea 

Vaunted much his beauty. 
This boast the red, round apple heard, 
Scolded the orange for his word, 

"See -my superiority !" 

The apple's boast the meadow heard, 

The meadow rich berlowered : 
"Boast not, thou smooth, round apple red, 
But see how I am carpeted, 

So green and richly dowered!'" 

The meadow's boast the maiden heard: 

"Deem'st flowery mead, so great thy worth! 

Though sweetly thou art sure bedight, 

Yet still I am the sweetest sight, 

That can be found in all the earth." 

These vaunts heard all a daring youth: 
"This maid, I see she is in truth, 

She is by far the sweetest flower 

That can be found in all the earth. 

That orange, I will bring it down, 
That apple-tree, I'll root it up. 

That meadow's flowers shall all be mown, 

And thou, fair maid, shalt be mine own!" 

J. W. W. 

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An Anthology of Jugoslav Poetry 

CVI 

THE PRETTY TOMB 

"WAIT, my girl, I want to talk, 
Though my talk will wound thee!" 
"Speak, O Youth; I'll listen, speak! 
Even though thou wound me." 
"Well, I am about to die." 
"Die ! Where will they bury thee ?" 
"I pray to rest upon thy breast." 
"Ah! blind and foolish is thy prayer! 
That were unseemly cemet'ry. 
My bosom is no graveyard lone, 
An apple orchard is my breast 
Where fruits do ripen, birds do rest!" 

J. W. W. 



in 



An Anthology of Jugoslav Poetry 

CVII 

TODA AND HER FATE 

MANY youths paid court to Toda, 
She, the blithesome shepherd girl; 
So with mirthful laugh she cried: 
"The youth on whom my apple falls, 
'Tis henceforth he my heart enthralls." 
Then Toda threw her apple red, 
Which fell upon a grey-haired head. 
Toda had not wished such love, 
So sent him oil to draw her water. 
She sent him thus unto the river, 
That no more trouble he might give her! 
But safely back the old man came, 
Brought the water, smiled and spake: 
"O love me, Toda, love me, Toda." 
Toda did not want to love him, 
So sent him oil to cut down branches, 
Not caring should they fall upon him ; 
But safely back the old man came, 
Brought the wood, and smiled and spake: 
"O love me, Toda, little Toda!" 
Toda did not want to love him, 
So sent him to the war to fight, 
Not caring what might be his plight: 
But safely back the old man came, 
Back from the war, and spake the same: 
"O love me, Toda, Toda, love me! 
That which must be, let it be." 

J. W. W. 

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CVIII 

THE VILA 

UNDER the clouds there's nought to me 
So handsome as a falcon bird. 
A falcon I did wish to be, 
And my wish by God was heard. 
High to the clouds I flew, 
And over the clouds too! 
Then to a nut-tree I shot down. 
Under the tree a vila sleeping! 
Or else some being strange to me! 
Oh, God Himself, and He alone, can say, 
But she was fairer than the fairest summer day. 

J. W. W. 
CIX 

THREE ROSES 

RED Sun ! too quickly art thou hasting down ; 
A little while prolong thy stay, 
Smile from thy evening gate on me, 
Till I've adorned with roses three — 
Roses of silk in purest gold — 
My darling's garment that I hold: 
The first rose, a rose for my own country dear, 
The second, a rose for sweet mother, 
The third, the rose of my own bridal crown. 
O stay, glad Sun! too quickly art thou going 
down! 

J. W. W. 

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An Anthology of Jugoslav Poetry 



CX 

HER DREAM 

THE girl awoke at dawn of day, 
Aroused by trilling roundelay; 
"Nightingale, oh, stop thy singing! 
Stop thy singing, pray! 
Cease thy songs, and fly away 
To Cattaro, down by the bay. 

To Cattaro now speed thy flight, 

To tell the dream I've dreamt this night: 

I found me in his garden gay, 

Gathering fair roses; 

With his eye he followed me, 

As I passed from tree to tree. 

I brought him then red roses fair, 
And tied them in his steed's black hair. 
Smiling, then a ring he gave me; 
Ah, a ring so rare! 
And he kissed me where I stood; 
A kiss that made to me all good. 

Smiling, yes, a kiss he gave me ! 

Than golden ring with diamond bright 

More precious far in my heart's sight. 

Stop singing, bird! 

This is my dream ; go, tell him so, 

Go ! wing thy way to Cattaro." 

J. W. W. 

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CXI 

TROUBLE WITH THE HUSBAND 

I MARRIED last year, 
This year I repent. 
Bad husband have I, 
With temper like nettle: 
My lot I resent. 

The frost kills the nettle, 
But this husband of mine, 
He thinks the frost fine: 
By the stove all day long 
He does nothing but sit, 
And says that the frost 
He minds not one bit ! 

In Celovec 'tis market-day, 
'Tis market-day to-morrow ; 
I will take my husband there, 
And will either there him change, 
Or else will sell him at the fair. 
Not too cheap I'll let him go, 
Because he was so hard to get ; 
Rather than too cheaply sell him, 
Back home again I'll take the man, 
And love him — howsomuch I can! 

J, w. w. 



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CXII 

THE PEACOCK AND THE NIGHTINGALE 

HOW beautiful it is this evening-time! 
The noblemen, they quaff the cool wine, 
And to their knee there comes a little stag, 
With golden peacock proudly on one shoulder, 
While on the other, perching there as neigh- 
bour, 
Behold a silver-throated nightingale! 
Upon whom gazing, saith the peacock golden: 
"How now, my silver-throated friend! 
If mine it were to trill thy liquid note, 
To every noble knight I'd sing a song, 
And honour each in turn from my clear 

throat." 
Answered the nightingale in silver voice: 
"List, lustrous peacock in thy blue and gold ! 
If mine it were, that sheeny fan of thine, 
Its golden feathers all I would pluck out, 
And decorate these nobles round about." 

J. W. W. 

CXIII 

THE FIRST TOAST 

RISING at the banquet table, 
Nov/ acclaim we our first toast, 
To our God's high honour drink we, 
Only of His glory think we — 
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No first place to human boast! 

To celebrate the Lord's great glory — 

What equal duty to be found? 

Say, all ye who sit around, 

Save truly to have earned the dinner ! 

J. W. W. 



CXIV 
THE HODZA 33 

IN Mostar was a sheker-meyteph, 34 

Thirty young ladies were learning there, 

Omer-eflendia was their hodza, 
And pretty Marusa their kalfa. 35 

One day Marusa opened the Koran: 

"Tell us now, hodza, tell what is written !' 

Hodza reads silently, then he speaks loudly: 
"First page — The hodza is going to marry! 

"Willeth so Allah, so willeth hodza — thus on page 
two! 

And on page three — Whom will he marry, whom 
will he marry? 

Thus on page three — He'll marry the pretty Mar- 
usa." 

J. W. W. 



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cxv 

WOES 

WOE to the wolf that eats not flesh, 
Woe to the knight who drinks not wine, 
Woe to the maid who counteth love 
No gift divine. 

Woe to legs with a foolish head, 
And woe to gilt on an unclean bed. 

Woe to satin on humped shoulders. 



Woe to the gun in a fearsome hand, 
Woe to the strong in that village where 
But cowards stand. 

Woe to the mother-in-law in the house of her 
son-in-law. 

Woe to the wolf whom the ravens feed, 
And to the knight who children doth need 
Him to defend. 

Woe to the cock who strutteth on ice, 

Woe to the nightingale singing in the mill; 

In such a din, far better to be still! 

J. W. W. 
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CXVI 

HARD TO BELIEVE 

A MAN ne'er born once told a tale 
To seven stout ghosts so hearty and hale; 
A ship went sailing 'mid greenwood trees, 
While the burning sun her crew did freeze. 
A horse danced o'er the billowy sea, 
From him a duck with hoofs did flee. 
From an empty cup two knights did quaff, 
Served by a maid whose head was off. 
Two wingless geese flew up in the sky, 
As a legless hero ran hard by; 
While near him scampered two roasted hares, 
Hotly pursued by three dogs in pairs. 
Then to the deaf man the dumb man spoke : 
"What a monstrous lie ! but I hope it's a joke." 

J. W. W. 
CXVII 

THE CONDITIONS 

LISTEN, listen man of God, 
If thou wouldest serve thy God, 
In thy lifetime do thou good, 
And revere thine elder brother, 
So thy younger thee revere. 
Neither boast when fortune smileth, 
Nor complain in days of trouble; 
Grasp not an another's good; 
For when death befalleth man, 

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Nought he takes from out the world, 
Save his deeds and crossed white hands — 
When he goeth to the Judgment, 
Where king's rank is unaccounted, 
Rich men can no more be proud, 
Poor men be no more despised. 

J. W. W. 

CXVIII 

PRAYER BEFORE GOING TO BED 

WITH a cross I lay me down, 
With a cross I get me up, 
All day long it doth protect, 
And angels in the night are near ; 
Archangels, they shall ward my death, 
And God's my guard till all things end. 

J. W. W. 

CXIX 

VISION BEFORE SLEEP 

TO sleep I laid me down, 

Making my prayer to God ; 

I called upon His angels; 

Heaven was unveiled to me; 

The Seraphim, they worshipped there, 

And prayed this prayer to Christ our Lord: 

"While he doth rest, all through his sleep, 

Frome visions dark do Thou him keep." 

J. W. W. 

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cxx 

PRAYER IN THE FIELD 

WE pray unto the Heavenly Lord, 

Koledo, Koledo! 36 
Dew to send upon our fields, 

Koledo! 
To give grain to wheat and maize, 

Koledo, Koledo! 
To give fruits in all the glades, 

Koledo! 
To give colours to the flowers, 

Koledo, Koledo!. 
To give health to sheep and cattle, 

Koledo! 
And pardon, joy and song to all, 

Koledo, Koledo! 

J. W. W. 



CXXI 

A CHILD IN HEAVEN 

YESTERNIGHT was born a Child, 
But it passed from earth at morn, 
Unbaptized to heaven's door. 
"Open, heavenly watchman, open!" 
"Nay, foolish babe, thou must away! 
Sinful thou art, away, away!" 

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"Foolish I am — but sinful, nay; 
Born yesternight, I died to-day; 
In the green forest I was born, 

Where no sponsor, where no priest; 

Therefore unbaptized I come!" 

Then the heavenly watcher answered: 
"Go thou yet a short way on; 
Go on, my babe, and thou shalt find 
Three watersprings ; from one to drink, 
From one to wash, the third a font of blessing. 
The first shall breast-milk be to thee; 
The second is thy mother's tears, 
And from the third thou shalt baptized be, 
And joyful entrance gain to heaven." 

J. W. W. 



CXXII 

CHRISTMAS 

WHY trembleth so the earth, 

Set in this sphere of blue? 

Christ our God was born hereon, 

He, the Virgin's Holy Son, 

Christ Who heaven and earth created, 

And us sinners on the earth. ' 

In awe when He shall come to judge, 

We all shall stand before Him then, 

Both righteous and unrighteous men. 

J. W. W. 

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CXXIII 

CHRIST THINKS OF HIS MOTHER 

ON angel wing in upward flight 
Rise soul and body of our Lord, 
* When piercing heaven with high gaze, 
He calleth for one down to go, 
Down to darksome Golgotha, 
Where Mary bending near the Cross, 
Weepeth in bitter agony: 
"Let herald hasten now to tell her 
I am risen unto heaven." 
Great Michael heard, two angels sent, 
Swift to convey the tidings glad: 
"O thou of women all most blest, 
Let not thy heart with fear be filled ; 
From the tomb thy Son is risen, 
Risen to the Father's throne, 
Saving men from Death's dominion." 

J. W. W. 



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CXXIV 

THE BLESSED MARY AND JOHN THE 
BAPTIST 

THE Blessed Mary sent an angel 
Unto John the Camel-girdled — 
"God's wish it is, and my wish too, 
That thou shouldst now my Son baptize." 
John went responsive to the river, 
Down into Jordan with the Christ, 
And there upon him with his Lord, 
Open wide the gate of heaven, 
The roseate sun did light the east, 
Sign of that Spirit-first of which spake John, 
Whose purging heat doth purify from sin, 
And in Jordan's flowing river 
Man's sin was taken all away ! 
Our salvation is in heaven! 
Save, O God, all trusting souls, 
Save them from the devil's toils. 

J. W. W 



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CXXV 

THE HOLY MOTHER 

SADLY walked the Holy Mother 
On the Holy Mountain. 
Suddenly espied she something 
Brightly shining in the dust: 
The Cross, it was, of her own Son. 
With gentlest hands she caressed it, 
She did wash it with her tears, 
And after dried it with her hair. 
Kneeling then she uttered prayer. 
Speaking to the Holy Cross: 
"O sweet Cross, thou Cross of honour, 
Upon thee my Son has died, 
Hellish pains on thee He suffered, 
Hellish pains from those hot nails, 
To redeem our sinful souls. 
When He did upon thee bleed, 
His blood it fell in priceless seed, 
Whence there sprang all lovely flowers, 
And angels, coming down to gather, 
Made them into wreathes and garlands 
That they might adorn all heaven." 

J. W. W. 



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CXXVI 

DREAM OF THE HOLY VIRGIN 

THE Holy Virgin dreaming slept, 
And in her dream a great tree grew, 
Its branches from her own heart crept, 
O'er spreading earth, north, south, east, west, 
And piercing, spire-like, heaven's blue. 
Sore troubled by her dream she rose 
And sought straightway a saintly brother; 
"Hear Saint Basil, my brother hear! 
Let me tell my vision wondrous 
I dreamed and lo! a great tree grew, 
Its branches from my own heart crept, 
O'erspreading earth north, south, east, west, 
And towering up through heaven's blue. 
What saith this vision Saint, to you?" 
Then Basil answered to the Virgin : 
"O sister dear, thy vision's clear: 
'A tree did spring from thy warm heart?* 
To bear the Christ shall be thy part. 
'Those spreading branches covering all?' 
Sinners He'll save from evil's thrall. 
'That height spire-piercing heaven's blue ?' 
To God the Father Christ shall rise 
Passing from earth and fleshly view." 

J. W. W. 



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CXXVII 
MOTHER AT THE TOMB OF HER SON 

ALAS! my son, how fareth it with thee, 

In thy new dwelling, new and strange and 

dark? 
Strange thy dwelling without windows ! 
At daybreak, Vinko, thy sad mother rose, 
Her earliest thought as but of thee, 
Her first thought, Vinko ; Vinko her first call ! 
Thorns are growing at the house-door, 
Cuckoos mourn around the house, 
Downcast thy brothers wait for thee, 
To talk with thee, to walk with thee — 
But now that ne'er can be. 
With head bent down and brow o'ercast, 
They make their way — for where art thou ! 
In ashes our hearth fire is hidden, 
And when I saw the sun this morning, 
I thought: It is the moon, 
When thy sisters said to me: 
"Dim thine eyes, it is the sun!" 
"For me no sun," said I to them, 
"Pale in the dust now is my sun, 
No light have I above the earth." 
Down in thy dwelling, oh my son, 
Say, is it cold, my Sun, my Sun; 
If it be cold as is my breast 
It is too cold, too cold to rest. 37 

J. W. W. 



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CXXVIII 
MOTHER OVER HER DEAD SON 

WHERE art thou flying? Where, oh where? 

My falcon? 
To what silent land and lone? 

Say, hero mine! 
Around thy friends and brothers ask me: 

How shall I answer them! 
"Where goes Perko? Tell us, Mother!" 

Woe to me, oh woe to me! 
If I answered, I might blame thee! 

How blame thee? 
Alway thou askedst me: May I go here — or 
should 

I stay? 

I knew thy way! 
But now thou askedst not ; nor may I give thee 
"Yea" or "nay,"— 

O blank, blank day! 
Better, child, I went to thee, than to stay 

As mother here 

Having lost the light of day ! 

J. W. W. 



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CXXIX 

MOTHER'S LAMENT FOR HER SON 

WHEREFORE do I marvel, wherefore need I 
wonder ? 

Traveller the dearest! 
That through this lower world already thou hast 
sped, 

Ray of light the fleetest! 
Together we'd a little talk, but we looked for more, 

Thou my golden store! 
To the realms of heaven thou from earth art gone, 

Thou my heaven and earth! 
Thou thy flight hast taken, sure, to a land of 
flowers, 

Dearest of my flowers! 
Thy journey leadeth up to God, unto the blest in 
Paradise, 

Thou my Paradise! 
Thou shalt behold the Judgment Place, 

Merciful my son ! 
Soon shalt reach those halls of rest, 

Thou who gav'st me labour! 
There shalt find the noble dead, 

Thou my sweetest life! 
Greet them all, the rich and poor, 

Best of all my riches! 
Salute the noblemen and princes, 

Thou my prince of princes! 

J. W. W. 



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cxxx 

GREATEST GRIEF FOR A BROTHER 

O'ER Neven woods the sun went down, 
The sun went down behind the forest, 
As came the heroes off the sea. 
The young wife counted anxiously, 
The wife of George the Hospodar, 
Counted the warriors, found them all, 
Save her three treasures who were missing. 
She could not find her Hospodar 
Nor the best man at their wedding, 
And the third treasure was not there ; 
This treasure was her dearest brother. 
For her brave lord she cuts her tresses, 
For her best man she wounds her cheeks, 
And for her brother puts out both her eyes. 
She cuts her hair, it grows again ; 
She wounds her cheeks, the wounds do heal ; 
But none can heal those hurt blind eyes, 
Nor yet her heart for her lost brother. 

J. W. W. 



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CXXXI 

THE DEATH CHAMBER OF HER 
FATHER-IN-LAW 

WHY art thou thus attired? 

My more than father! 
Why art thou thus bedight, so knightly armed? 

My fearless knight! 
Thou art departing for the city? 

My shining city! 
In order there to meet the lords and knights, 

O my wise lord! 
Or go'st thou to a marriage feast? 

My pride, my noble guest! 
— But why ! thine eyes are closed to me ! 

O closed, O closed to me! 
And — can it be! — thy mouth is bound! 

This black, black morning! 
If thou art gone, and com'st not back — 

How empty is the house! 
How is it thou couldst leave us so? 

To us, O woe, O woe! 
Far, far thy journey, and the end not here ! 

But better is it there! 
Mother and father, they will greet thee there, 

Among the Blest ! 
Thy brothers, too, and children in celestial light, — 

O blessed, blessed sight! 
Thee will they greet: we in their thoughts shall be, 

O heavenly harmony! 
But thou wilt stay, and ne'er return to us, 

O woe, O woe to us! 

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An Anthology of Jugoslav Poetry 



CXXXII 
KOLEDO 

THE king came to court our Margaret fair, 

Koledo, Koledo! 
And mother sang clear to our Margaret fair: 

Koledo, Koledo! 
"Oh, Margaret, haste! my daughter dear, 

Koledo, Koledo! 
The King, he has come to court you here, 

Koledo, Koledo!" 
Then thus sweet Margaret to mother's call : 

"Koledo, Koledo! 
I told you, mother mine, I told you, 

Koledo, Koledo! 
I want not kings, I want not knights, 

Koledo, Koledo! 
'Tis Jesus Himself alone doth bind me, 

Koledo, Koledo! 
I've vowed to Him, true shall He find me, 

Koledo, Koledo!" 

J. W. W. 



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CXXXIII 

A HORSE'S COMPLAINT 

A HORSE left his knight on Kossovo, 
On a dreadsome place on Kossovo. 
Finding his steed, the knight put 

question : 
"O horse of mine, my greatest treasure, 
Why hast thou left me here so lonely, 
In this deadsome place on Kossovo? 
What have I done thus to displease 

thee? 
Say, horse of mine, why didst thou 

leave me? 
Did press my saddle hard upon thee? 
Thy jewelled bridle, was it heavy? 
Or have I ridden thee too far?" 
To his knight the horse made answer : 
"Thy saddle pressed not hard upon 

me, 
Thy jewelled bridle was not heavy, 
Nor hast thou ridden me too far. 
But this it is that doth displease me: 
So oft thou tarriest at the tavern, 
While I am tethered at the door. 
Three maidens fair are dwelling there, 
Whose beauty makes thee all forgetful, 
While I am out here cold and fretful; 
Then angrily I paw the earth, 
And eat the grass down to its root, 
And drink the water dry as stone, 
While thou dost leave me here alone." 

133 J- W. W. 



An Anthology of Jugoslav Poetry 

CXXXIV 

A DANCE AT VIDIN 

ONE day at Vidin they did dance the Kolo: 
"Oh, let me, mother, go and see!" 
"There is thy brother, go with him !" 
"My brother! he can stay at home, 
I do not want to go with him." 

One day at Vidin they did dance the Kolo: 
"Oh! let me, mother, go and see!" 
"There is thy father, go with him !" 
"Oh, let my father stay at home, 
I do not want to go with him." 

One day at Vidin they did dance the Kolo: 
"Oh! let me, mother, go and see!" 
"There is thy darling, go with him !" 
"Oh, come, my sweetheart, come with 

me! 
I'll dance the Kolo there wich thee!" 

J. w. w, 



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cxxxv 

THE PRICE 

HOW many towns from here to the coast? 

Seventy-seven sunlit towns, 

And villages green a thousand! 

And all of these I'd give for the street 

Where I my sweetheart first did meet, 

And e'en the street I'd give as the price 

To meet him again — aye, but for a trice! 

J. W. W. 
CXXXVI 

PREFERENCES 

THREE maids were talking on a night, 

Upon a silvery moonlight night. 

They walked and talked of many things, 

They asked what each preferred to have. 

Two did listen to the eldest: 

"A castle white is what I'd like." 

Then two did hear the second say: 

" 'Tis velvet blue with gold I like." 

Then two listened to the youngest : 

"A sweetheart true I would prefer. 

Should the castle all be ruined, 

My darling would rebuild it up; 

The velvet would with time wear out, 

My darling he could buy me more — 

A sweetheart true is richer store!" 

J. W. W. 

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CXXXVII 

A BRIDE'S DEVOTION 

A BRIDE most fair fed a swan and a lion, 
A swan and a lion and a falcon grey. 
To her came merchants from far away: 
"Sell us, sweet maid, your swan and your lion, 
This swan and this lion and falcon grey!" 
"Ye men from afar, go away, go away, 
My godfather cometh to see me wed, 
And this lion I tend till the time be sped; 
And for my true friend who best man shall be, 
This white swan I keep, and for none but he! 
But this falcon grey ye covet so much, 
'Tis my true love's own ; none shall it touch." 

J. W. W. 

CXXXVIII 
FIDELITY 

A YOUTH to God did pray, 
About his sweetheart dear, 

That he the gem might be 
Which trembled in her ear. 

He wished to be the beads 

Reposing on her breast, 
That he might hear her say 

That she loved him best. 

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An Anthology of Jugoslav Poetry 

The prayer he prayed was heard 

A pearl beside the shore, 
His darling picked him up, 

And on her necklet bore. 

He listened and he heard 
How true her loving heart: 

She told the other maids 

She ne'er from him would part. 

J. W. W. 



CXXXIX 

A SISTER'S LAMENT 

SISTER was I of kingly brothers three, 
But now my kings are gone from me, 
Woe, woe, woe! 

Better kingdoms they are asking, 
Better work than this world's tasking, 
And God will grant it, where they go, 
Better service He'll bestow, 

But for me, alas! Oh! woe! 

So kingly brothers ne'er were known, 
Now my heart breaketh here alone. 
This world for me too dark is now, 
And I took dark for it, I trow! 
Woe, woe, woe ! 

J. W. W. 

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CXL 

THE PRAYER OF KARAGEORGE'S LADY 38 

PRAYED of God the Karageorge's Lady! 
"Give me, God, to bear a maiden lovely, 
"Patternized by Carapica Vasa, 
"Grant us, O God, to choose name of beauty, 
"Name of beauty, precious gold of mother. 
"When shall come the baby, christen'd Goldie, 
"Swaddling clothes her mother will then make 

her, 
"Flowing clothes of linen for her infant, 
"All of silk and cloth of gold so beauteous, 
"As she's Goldie let gold bless her slumber. 
"When she's come to her little cradle, 
"Then her mother will make little cradle, 
"Little cradle of gold will she make her, 
"As she's Goldie, let cradle be golden. 
"When Goldie is grown up to be spinner, 
"Spinning-wheel her mother then will make 

her, 
"Of gold will she make her golden spindle, 
"As she's Goldie let her wheel be golden. 
"When Goldie knows how to embroider, 
"Golden frame her mother will then make her, 
"Of gold will she make her spinning trinket, 
"As she's Goldie, may her work be golden." 39 

B. S. S. 



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CXLI 

THOU ART EVER, EVER MINE 40 

O MY girl, O my soul, 

What does mother say to you ? 

Will she marry you to me? 

Her son-in-law can I be? 

She might give you, she might not, 

Thou art ever, ever mine! 

B. S. S. 

CXLII 

SEA MERCHANT 41 

LISTEN, my girl, listen, my beauty! 
Thy eyes are corals in the sea, 
I am a merchant on the sea 
Buying the riches of the sea. 

Listen, my girl, listen, my beauty! 
Thy teeth are tiniest pearls, 
I am a merchant on the sea 
Buying tiniest pearls of the sea. 

Listen, my girl, listen, my beauty! 
Thy hands are whiter than the wool, 
I am a merchant on the sea 
Trading in wool o'er the sea. 

B. S. S. 

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CXLIII 

ANGELA AS WATCHMAN 42 

FALCON is winging high, 
But the fortress gates are higher; 
And Angela is watching there 
Aureoled in sunshine, 
Belted with the moonbeams, 
And flowering with the stars. 

B. S. S. 

CXLIV 

A LAD AND HIS BETROTHED 43 

LITTLE lad is wandering 
Through a wooded copse, 
Strutting with a green bough 
Walking down the slopes. 
Looking on a courtyard 
Sees young Jana sweeping: 

"O thou pearl, my sweet one, 
Whence my ring in keeping?" 
Thus she answered proudly: 
"May thy brother know, perchance; 
And should it bring God's blessing 
He'll join our wedding dance." 

B. S. S. 

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CXLV 

DIREFUL SICKNESS 44 

WHAT shall I do, what shall I do? 

My nights are sleepless, 

My heart is so restless — 

Ah, sorrow, anew, 

I'll die, 

My love, for you. 

B. S. S. 

CXLVI 

ALL AS IT SHOULD BE 45 

WHEN the sun sets at even, 

My love is just coming to me 

And when the moon has passed Heaven 

My lover is going from me. 

So the paths are all darken'd with shadow, 

Just as it should be, should be 

In shadow that no one can see. 

B. S. S. 

CXLVII 

BEAUTY PREENS HERSELF 4R 

FOR whom powders face so lovely, Beauty? 
For whom has she dropped her hair on shoulder, 
For whom is she wearing charms in bosom? 
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Is it for Valach, or for a Magyar? 
It is not for Valach nor for Magyar, 
It is for this Stojan, mighty reaper, 
Who in Kolo always takes the leadship, 
When he's playing, every heart is touched, 
When he's dancing, dances like a puppet. 

B. S. S. 



CXLVIII 

HARVEST SONG 47 

HURRY, hurry, robust harvesters, 
At field's end there's water and a maiden, 
Cooling water, and a maiden youthful, 
Drink ye water, and embrace your maiden. 

B. S. S. 



CXLIX 

LONG NIGHT 48 

THESE are long nights, these are long nights, 

For him who does not kiss black eyes, 

He it is who cannot slumber, 

For his heart is pierced with sorrow. 

B. S. S. 
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CL 

EYEBROW LURE 49 

OH, my girl, my sweetest flower, 
Curl not ends of eyebrow bower, 
Do not grieve your youthful laddies, 
As your way doth torment me: 
Leading horse, I wander barefoot — 
Carrying boots, I wander barefoot — 
Bearing bread, I cannot eat it — 
Treading water, cannot drink it. 

B. S. 



CLI 

GIRLHOOD 50 

GIRLHOOD, was my golden tsardom ! 
Tsar was I while girlhood lasted; 
Ah, if I could turn me backward, 
Well I know how I'd live girlhood. 

B. S. S. 



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CLII 

YOUTH WITH YOUTH 51 

ON the river Sitnitsa 
Little green fir standeth! 
Who's young and stripling, 
Youth with green youth sleepeth. 
Ah, but see that youthful Jovo, 
All alone is he, 

Seeing that the youthful Mara 
Joins him secretly. 

B. S. S. 

CLIII 

COME, MY LOVER, TO ME 52 

FULL and thick is shadow, 

Come, my love, to meadow, 

For I've a verdant garden, 

Red roses for a warden; 

Golden kerchief will I make thee, 

Christmas gift of love from me, 

To carry so splendidly 

In the memory of thy darling. 

B. S. S. 



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CLIV 

SIGHS 53 

OH my heart, I feel me sighing, 

Methinks that my lover calls me to him, 

But in truth my sweetheart's love hath ceased. 

Cried out falcon from a fir branch lofty: 

"O girl lovely! Sinfully you are speaking, 

"Only past night your love called you lovely, 

"Drinking wine unto your bounteous pleasure: 

'O my girl, nry soul of me most dearest, 

'I have made for thee a hiding, 

'Half my bed and half my arm, 

'Half a pillow, half a cover, 

'Half a cushion, heart of mine in bosom.' " 

B. S. S. 



CLV 
A BOUQUET OF LITTLE ROSES 5i 

GIRL of my soul,, my soul, 
Take this bunch of rosebuds neat, 
Should thy bouquet fade and fail, 
Come once more, my soul, to me 

1 will pluck again for thee. 

B. S. S. 



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CLVI 

DREAM INTERPRETATION 55 

DARLING sweetheart on his free arm sleeping, 
Makes he motion to sound gong in waking: 
"Awake, my dear, dearer than mine own eyes, 
"Last night I a strange dream was a-dreaming: 
"My fez swept 'way on the troubled water, 
"Pearls were strewing richly in my lap-robe, 
"And my watch in pieces four was broken." 
Sweetheart waking, calmly speaking this-wise: 
"Easy is it to interpret dreaming, 
"That your fez was swept by troubled water 
"Means you're to go forth to battle army; 
"That pearls richly scatter'd in your lap-robe 
"Must mean our tears, thine with mine are min- 
gling; 
"That your watch in pieces four was broken 
"Means in truth that our hearts will be breaking 
"When we're forced to take leave of each other." 

B. S. S. 

CLVII 

WITH SWEETHEART NIGHTS ARE 
SHORTEST 56 

CYCLONE downward rumbling, 
All the castle trembling. 
In castle is a girl 
Crying, never ceasing: 

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An Anthology of Jugoslav Poetry 

"Alas, how long nights are! 
"When sleeping near to papa; 
"On nine soft mattresses, 
"On nine softest cushions, 
" 'Neath nine fine coverlets." 

"Alas, how long nights are! 
"When sleeping near to mother 
"On nine soft mattresses, 
"On nine softest cushions, 
" 'Neath nine fine coverlets." 

"Alas, how long nights are! 
"When sleeping near to brother; 
"On nine soft mattresses, 
"On nine softest cushions, 
" 'Neath nine fine coverlets." 

"Alas, how long nights are! 
"When sleeping near to sister; 
"On nine soft mattresses, 
"On nine softest cushions, 
" 'Neath nine fine coverlets." 

Cyclone downward rumbling, 

All the castle trembling. 

In castle is a girl 

Crying, never ceasing: 

"Alas, how short the nights are! 

"Sleeping with my darling, 

"Just on single mattress, 

"On a single pillow, 

" 'Neath a single cover." 

B. S. 
H7 



An Anthology of Jugoslav Poetry 

CLVIII 

DAWN AWAKENED LAZAR 57 

'WAKENING Lazar dawn was stealing: 
"Get up, Lazar; rise up, Lazar! 
"Horse of thine has thirst for water." 
Forthwith up leaps Lazar quickly, 
Grasps his horse's bridle lightly, 
Leading horse, he goes to water, 
But at water's edge was maiden, 
With his foot he touched hers gently, 
Kissed the while her black eyes sparkling, 
Clasping her about the bosom. 

B. S. S. 

CLIX 

A DEVILISH YOUNG MATRON 58 

WHEN I lived a girl with mother, 
Good advice was given me often, 
That I should not drink the red wine, 
That I should not wear green wreathlets, 
That I shouldn't kiss a stranger. 

But I poor girl deeply thinking over : 
There's no red cheek without red wine spark- 
ling, 
There's no pleasure without green wreath 

glistening, 
Neither amour without stranger wooer. 

B. S. S. 
148 



An Anthology of Jugoslav Poetry 

CLX 

GIRL IS ETERNAL POSSESSION 59 

IN a garden works a maiden, 

Digging furrow, water decoy, 

To the garden 'luring water, 

To give drink to early flowers. 

Early flowers, whitest basil, 

Whitest basil, gold carnation; 

Where she's furrowing, there she's sleeping. 

Putting head in sweetest basil, 

Hands are lying in carnations, 

Feet are plac'd in shallow hollow, 

Covered with a fragile kerchief; 

Beat upon her dew-drops slender, 

Like a rain-soaked watermelon. 

Now there comes a callow youth, 

Callow youth and not yet married, 

Grasping two posts, leaps the railing, 

Springing lightly into garden, 

Then commences soliloquizing: 

"Should I pluck a bunch of flowers? 

"Should I kiss a sleeping maiden? 

"Bunch of flowers lasts till mid-day, 

"But a maiden lasts forever." 

B. S. S. 



149 



An Anthology of Jugoslav Poetry 

CLXI 

JOVO AND MARIA 60 

BREEZE fans up o'er roses 'long the meadow, 
To the rich white tent of Jovo, youthful, 
Where there's Jovo with Maria sitting: 
Jovo writing and Maria sewing; 
Ink runs short for Jovo where he's writing, 
And Maria golden thread is losing, 
Then to Maria, Jovo thus is speaking: 
"Oh, my Maria, mine own cherish'd lov'd one ! 
"Is my soul to thee a dear possession? 
"For a pillow is my right hand doughty?" 
Mara to him gently whispering slowly: 
"Believe me, Jovo, darling of my heart-throb, 
"Dearer to me is thy soul much dearer, 
"Than are altogether four of brothers; 
"Softer to me thy own right hand doughty, 
"Than four softest pillows of my choosing." 

B. S. S. 
CLXII 

ROSE TREE 61 

PLANTED rose-tree midst of Novi-Sad town, 
O my rose-bud, O my sorrow rose tree, 
Cannot pick you, neither give you sweetheart: 
For my sweetie vents her anger on me, 
Gliding past my courtyard stealthy, 
Like the slave who passes Turkish graveyard. 

B. S. S. 
150 



An Anthology of Jugoslav Poetry 

CLXIII 

DARLING'S WRATH 62 

O MY darling, be not wrathful ; 
Should I, myself, show my hot displeasure, 
All of Bosnia never could appease us, 
Not all Bosnia nor the Hercegovina. 

B. S. S. 



CLXIV 

LAD PIERCED WITH ARROW 63 

ALAS hero I'm with arrow pierced, 
O my Yetsa, thy white face is guilty, 
Thy black eye-balls are the piercing arrows, 
Thy white arms are now a very torment. 
Come, my love bird, to my white court homing, 
Come to heal my heart's own sore displeasure, 
To bind up my wounds with thy throat's whiteness, 
To salve suffering with thy honey kisses. 

B. S. S. 



151 



An Anthology of Jugoslav Poetry 

CLXV 

NOUGHT BUT KISSES 64 

UP and down went youth in mountain, 
In a garden, girl round fountain; 

On her threw he hawthorn red, — 
Lightly answering, blackthorn sped, — 
Think you they intend to kill? 
Nought but kisses that they will. 

B. S. S. 
CLXVI 

UNITED 65 

LITTLE girl, the small black-eyed, 
Hero, wondering stupefied: 

'Had we means of barter! 
To lead us near together! 
I my life long would not quit her, 
None could make our friendship wither.' 

B. S. S. 
CLXVII 

GIRL PLEADS WITH JEWELLER 66 

OH, my jeweller, for your trade's sake, listen ! 
Make me hero, all of gold my hero, 
I will spoil him, as his mother dares not, 
I will kiss him until dawns the twilight, 
Till day breaks ever will caress him. 

B. S. S. 
152 



An Anthology of Jugoslav Poetry 

CLXVIII 
WIFE DEARER THAN SISTER 67 

LO! behold behind the forest 

Someone loudly screams — 

" 'Tis a voice," says youthful hero, 

"Girlish-like it seems." 

When behold ! he looked and spied her, 

Tiny girl, tree-bound they'd tied her, 

With fine silken seams. 

Hear! she prays of youthful hero, dazzled by his 
might : 

"Come to me, thou youthful hero, O most beaut- 
eous, wonderknight. 

Come to free me, youthful hero, and I'll be thy 
sister true." 

Thus she spake, but laughing he, "O, there's one at 
home like you." 

"Come to free me then, my brother; sister-in-law 
I'll be no other." 

('But at home she sits by mother.') 

"Then I'll be thy golden bride. 

Take me to thy meadows wide, 

Take me to thy castles white, 

Take me, take me from this plight." 

So she spake to gallant lover, 

Hovering near and just above her, 

Clasps her in his arms to love her — 

Such a gallant knight! 

B. S. S. 



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An Anthology of Jugoslav Poetry 

CLXIX 

GREATEST SORROW 68 

ALL young heroes here save mine, 
All young gallant heroes brave. 
O! that I were sure he'd tarry, 
Lingering in some sickness grave, 
Rather than the wish to marry 
Sends him courting another maid. 
O ! may he be too ill to travel, 
May him dread illness cause to pine, 
Rather than to court another, 
Never, never to be mine. 

B. S. S. 
CLXX 

YOUTH AND GIRL 69 

O MAIDEN, thou gentlest rose 
When thou wert growing what didst thou be- 
hold? 
Hast thou observed a pine-tree growing 
Or the slender, proud fir-tree blowing, 
Or did'st gaze at my youngest brother? — 

O glad, young hero, brilliant Sun! 
Never at the pine-tree blowing 
Have I look'd in wonder gazing 
Neither at the slender fir-tree, 
Nor thy youngest brother, free, 
Rather have I grown to suit thee, 
Tender knight, to suit but thee. 

B. S. S. 

154 



NOTES 

i. This song as also those signed "S. J. B." has been 

transversified and published by (Sir) John Bowring, 
"Servian Popular Poetry," London, 1827. 

2. The Serbian peasants, especially women, firmly be- 
lieve that saints, parents, rulers, bishops and clergymen 
have the privilege of cursing and that the person to 
whom the curse is addressed is bound to undergo the 
consequences pronounced by the curser. There are sev- 
eral instances in the Serbian heroic ballads by which it 
is proven that the national Serbian bards, and indeed 
all the peasants who participated in the composition of 
their epic poetry, believe that curses pronounced by priv- 
ileged persons always come true. Thus in the ballad 
Uros and Mrnjavcevici King Vukasin of Macedonia, 
angry with his son Marko Kralyevich because the lat- 
ter, when chosen for arbiter, said that the imperial crown 
belonged to Carevic Uros and not to him (Vukasin), ex- 
claimed: 

"O son Marko, may God smother thee! 

Mayest thou have no tomb, nor progeny 

May thy soul not leave thy body 

Before thou hast served the Turkish emperor!" 

While Marko's kingly father cursed him, Carevic Uros 
blesses him thus: 

"O my Kum Marko, God second thee! 
Thy face shine at divan 
Thy sabre smother in duels! 
May no one excel thee in heroism 
Thy name be reverently remembered. 
As long as Sun and Moon shine!" 

And the bard finishes his poem with, "Whatever they 
said, it came true." 

Another oral tradition tells us how a nobleman Vel- 
imir Bogati (Velimir the Rich) who once refused hos- 

155 



An Anthology of Jugoslav Poetry 



pitality to Knez Lazar, the emperor of Serbia (1389), 
was cursed by the noble prince and how Velimir's first 
son indeed drowned himself in the river Lepenica, 
his second son fell from his horse and died in conse- 
quence of the accident and how his third, and now only 
son, was imprisoned by his father in one of the remot- 
est towers of his castle in order to avoid any danger 
of experiencing the prince's curse. One day, however, 
Velimir Bogati brought to his imprisoned son some 
grapes from his own vineyard, in order that the poor 
young fellow should at least know what time of the 
year it was, and lo! while the boy was eating the grapes 
a small viper jumped out of the bunch and mortally 
bit him. The news of the sudden death of the young 
nobleman spread rapidly amongst the neighboring vil- 
lages and fortified the peasants in their belief that one 
cannot escape the curse. 

Par extension a kletva (curse) can be effective even 
if pronounced, as in the above song, by other persons 
than those privileged. 

Another saga narrates how a peasant greedily coveted 
and wished to appropriate a corn field that belonged 
to his neighbour and, in order to attain his evil end, he 
buried in the middle of that field his only son whom he 
had previously taught what to say when interrogated. 
The judge and the plaintiffs came with the defender to 
the spot and the mischievous peasant in order to mystify 
those present, exclaimed: "O black earth, speak of thy 
own free will, to whom dost thou rightly belong?" 

"I belong to thee," the voice from below was heard. 

The lawful owner, hearing this, started aback. And 
the judge's verdict appointed the field to belong to the 
covetous and wrong claimant. And the parties dispersed 
in wonder. 

Then the father began to dig the ground in order to 
disinter his son. But — there was not the shadow of one! 
He called loudly and the child answered the call but 
the voice from beneath the earth was ever fainter and 
fainter. Finally the child turned to a mole. 

Thus became, according to Serbian tradition, the first 
mole. (Edit.) 

156 



An Anthology of Jugoslav Poetry 



3. Sir John Bowring, although a remarkable trans- 
versifier and at times a true interpreter of popular songs 
of the Slavs, has taken too much of that licentia poetica 
in his rendering of this, one of the most beautiful lyrics 
ever composed by Serbian peasant women. The reader 
may judge for himself, when comparing Sir John Bow- 
ring's liberal transversification with the following 'ver- 
batim translation (which he, himself, felt absolutely in- 
dispensable to reproduce) what a great injustice is 
inflicted upon the popular songs of any people by even 
the most conscientious transversifier and how infinitely 
less untrue to the original a rendering can be. (Edit.) 

Of this little poem, which Goethe calls "wonderful," 
the following is an almost literal translation: 

Full of wine, white branches of the vine-trees 

To white Buda's fortress white had clung them: 

No! it was no vine-tree, white and pregnant! 

No! it was a pair of faithful lovers, 

From their early youth betrothed together. 

Now they are compell'd to part untimely. 

One address'd the other at their parting, 

"Go ! my soul ! burst out and leave my bosom ! 

Thou wilt find a hedge-surrounded garden, 

And a red-rose branch within the garden; 

Pluck a rose from off the branch, and place it, 

Place it on thy heart, within thy bosom; 

Then behold! — ev'n as that rose is fading, 

Fades my heart within thy heart thou loved one!" 

And thus answer'd then the other lover: 

"Thou, my soul ! turn back a few short paces. 

There thou wilt discern a verdant forest; 

In it is a fount of crystal water; 

In the fount there is a block of marble; 

On the marble block a golden goblet; 

In the goblet thou wilt find a snow-ball. 

Love ! take out that snow-ball from the goblet, 

Lay it on thy heart within thy bosom; 

See it melt — and as it melts, my lov'd one! 

So my heart within thy heart is melting." 

(S. J. B.) 

157 



An Anthology of Jugoslav Poetry 



4. This song has obviously been composed by a Ser- 
bian woman of Mohammedan faith. A large percentage 
of Serbians in Bosnia, Hercegovina and even Macedonia 
are still adhering to the Koran. Ali Bey surely must 
have been a Serbian bey. (Edit.) 

5. Smilia, the grapharium arenar'ium, or "lovely love." 
Also a woman's name. (S. J. B.) 

6. This song is sung at the close of the harvest, when 
all the reapers are gathered together. Half as many 
reeds as the number of persons present are so bound 
that no one can distinguish the two ends which belong 
to the same reed. Each man takes one end of the reeds 
on one side, each of the women takes one end at the 
other. The withes that bind the reeds are severed, and 
the couples that hold the same reed kiss one another. 
(S. J. B.) 

7. Kalpak, the fur cap of the Serbians. (S. J. B.) 

8. This is one of the songs sung at the breaking up of 
the company, addressed to the giver of the festival. 
(S. J. B.) 

9. Musho cedo (male child). The male sex is in 
Serbia, as elsewhere, deemed entitled to more care and 
attention than the other. (S. J. B.) 

10. A handkerchief embroidered and given by a girl 
to a boy is considered in Jugoslavia as a symbol of love 
and faith. (Edit.) 

11. As unfortunately Serbian parents often, very often, 
select the husband of their marriageable daughter, the 
poor girl, unless disobedient and rebellious, meekly ac- 
cedes to the choice even if her bridegroom should be an 
old man. This is obviously a remnant of Turkish do- 
minion in Serbia. (Edit.) 

12: Zvezda, star, is of the feminine gender. (S. J. B.) 

13. Sun is feminine in Serbian. (S. J. B.) 

158 



An Anthology of Jugoslav Poetry 



14. The leech, Sanguisuga; but in Serbian there is no 
disagreeable association with the word. It is the name 
usually employed to describe the beauty of the eye- 
brows, as swallows' wings are the simile used for eye- 
lashes. (S. J. B.) 

15. Visnja, the universal Slavonian name of the Vis- 
tula cherry-tree. The Cerasum apronianum of Linne. 
(S. J. B.) 

16. The Vila nearly corresponds to the Peri of the 
Persians, and the fVola of the Scandinavians. (S. J. B.) 

17. Radisa is the name of a man. Radovan] e — joy. 
(S. J. B.) 

18. Lepota is the Serbian word for beauty. (S. J. B.) 

19. I shall be accused of having decorated this. The 
translation is more free than I have generally given; 
but in order to show how little I have deviated from 
the thought of the original. I give the conclusion. (S. 
J.B.) 

"Ako bi te u pjesmu pjevala, 
Pjesma ide od usta do usta, 
Pa ce doci u pogana usta; 
Ako bi te u rukave vezla, 
Rukav ce se odma izderati, 
Pa ce tvoje ime poginuti; 
Ako bi te u knjigu pisala 
Knjiga ide od ruke do ruke, 
Pa ce doci u pogane ruke." 

Vuk i. p. 200 

20. The popular national dance of the Serbians. (S. 
J.B.) 

21. Bosiljak, the Ocimum basilicum of Linne. (S. 
J.B.) 

22. As the Serbians have had during the long Otto- 
man rule to attend to much sterner duties than that 
of cultivating literature and art, and, as the greater part 

159 



An Anthology of Jugoslav Poetry 



of the population (sixty per cent, at least) are even to 
this day completely illiterate, ability to read and write 
is still considered an 'art' with the peasantry. (Edit) 

23. Kaloper, balsamita vulgaris of Linne. (S. J. B.) 

24. Vila (pronounced veelah) is with the Serbians a 
female deity (Muse or Grace) of incomparable beauty 
and tenderness. But she can be very hostile to mortals. 
(Cf. note 16. Edit.) 

25. The cuckoo {Kukavica), according to Serbian 
tradition, was a maiden who mourned so unceasingly for 
a dead brother, that she was changed into a bird, and 
thence continues without rest her melancholy note. A 
Serbian girl who has lost a brother never hears a cuckoo 
without shedding tears. — "I a poor cuckoo," is equivalent 
to "woe is me!" (S. J. B.) 

26. Ban is obviously a corrupt form of the Polish or 
Cech or Ruthenian title Pan, meaning "Mr." or, in di- 
rect address, "Sir." To this day that word has been 
conserved only by those Serbians who have lived in the 
Austro-Hungarian territory called Croatia, and is ap- 
plied as a title to their political chief. (Edit.) 

27. Lado is the vocative of Lada, the goddess of love, 
in the old Slavonian mythology. Lado! is a melancholy 
interjection in Serbian, whereas Lele! the vocative of 
Lela, the god of love, has frequently a cheerful associa- 
tion. Polela (after love) the goddess of marriage, is 
also sometimes apostrophised. Talvj remarks, that L)ad, 
in Russian, signifies misfortune. In common parlance, 
Lele mene (Serbian) imports "Woe is me!" (S. J. B.) 

28. Mlinar, the miller. (S. J. B.) 

29. Wesely imagines that this expression has been in- 
troduced into Serbian poetry by the influence of the in- 
teresting ballad on the marriage of Maxim Cerno- 
jevic (see Quarterly Review for December, 1S26). The 
intimate intercourse which existed between Serbia and 
Venice may account for the phraseology. (S. J. B.) 

160 



An Anthology of Jugoslav Poetry 



30. This song, as also others signed "O. M." has been 
transversified by Robert Bulwer Lytton (Owen Mer- 
edith), "Serbske Pesme; or National Songs of Serbia," 
London, 1861. (Edit.) 

31. Kolo, signifying literally a wheel, is the generic 
term for all the Serbian national dances in most of 
which the dancers, either taking hands, or united each 
to each by a handkerchief tied round the waist or to the 
girdle, form a ring and advance or retreat to and from 
the centre to a monotonous music, either of the voice or 
some very simple wind instruments. Both sexes take part 
in these dances, which are frequently in the open air. 
(O. M.) 

32. This song as also those signed "J- W. W." has 
been transversified and published by J. W. Wiles, "Ser- 
bian Songs and Poems: Chords of the Yugoslav Harp," 
New York, 1917. 

33. Hodza, i. e. Mohammedan priest. (J. W. W.) 

34. Turkish seminary. (J. W. W.) 

35. Kalfa, governess. (J. W. W.) 

36. Koledo: In ancient times the Serbians, as all the 
Slavs, often used this word as a refrain in their bucolic 
songs. It was an address to Ledo, the ancient Slav divin- 
ity who presided over the process of fertility and pro- 
tected fields and flowers. (J. W. W.) 

37. Loud lamentations, by women rather than men, 
are an ancient custom among the Serbs. These dirges 
are again and again extemporized with spontaneous 
poetic feeling. Girls let down their hair and lament in 
the orchards and precincts of the house. (J. W. W.) 

38. This song, as well as others signed "B. S. S.," 
has been rendered into English by the Editor. 

l6l 



An Anthology of Jugoslav Poetry 



39. "The Prayer of Karageorge's Lady" is number 
685 of Vol. I of Vuk Karadzic's collection. (Edition of 
1891.) 



40 No. 428 Vol. I. (Edition of 1891). 



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